FIA F3: Mini Dominates the Sprint race as tire wear hits.

The inaugural race of the FIA Formula 3 Championship weekend commenced under brilliant sunshine on Saturday morning. Prior to the race, noteworthy developments from the stewards revealed that Gabriele Bortoleto was cleared of an impeding penalty post-qualifying, where he was accused of obstructing Dino Beganovic. Additionally, Gabriele Mini is currently under investigation for leaving the pitlane in an “Unsafe position.” As the race unfolded, the top three contenders expressed concerns about tyre degradation due to the introduction of a new medium compound tyre designed to exhibit increased wear at the rear.

At the starting line, Gabriele Mini and Nikita Bedrin had even starts, but Bedrin used the outside of turn 1 to overtake Mini and secure the lead. The race progressed smoothly until turn 5 when three drivers at the back collided, and at the chicane of turns 6 and 7, Sebastien Montoya collided with Tommy Smith, resulting in wing damage for both. By the end of the first lap, Montoya, Hugh Barter, Smith, and Ido Cohen pitted, with Cohen retiring and the others obtaining new front wings.

On lap 5, Bortoleto overtook Christian Mansel into turn 1, and on the following lap, Paul Aron attempted a similar move but went wide at turn 2, allowing Mansell to claim fourth. On Lap 8, Mini, equipped with superior tyres, passed Bedrin going into turn 1. However, by lap 10, everyone grappled with tyre issues, evident in severe graining on Mini’s tyres. Although Bedrin remained within a second of Mini on lap 10, he lacked the pace to execute a successful overtake. On lap 11, Zak O’Sullivan, frustrated after being stuck behind, dove inside Tsolov, resulting in contact and a subsequent pit stop for a new wing.

The Safety Car was deployed on lap 14 after Montoya stopped following turn 12, setting the stage for a final shootout under green flag conditions. The DRS was activated after one lap, and severe tyre wear made the cars two to three seconds slower than the initial laps.

The Safety Car withdrew on lap 17, and at the restart, Aron outpaced Mansel around the outside of turn 2. Meanwhile, Tsolov out-braked himself, colliding with Josep Maria Marti, triggering a Virtual Safety Car briefly.

On the final lap, Bortoleto applied pressure on Bedrin, attempting moves outside turn 5 and executing a switchback. Bedrin defended well, but through turn 11, he drifted, providing Bortoleto with a better run into turn 13. Bortoleto successfully overtook Bedrin at the final corner. Meanwhile, Mini secured a victory, turning a challenging qualifying session into a win but did not gain on Bortoleto in the championship as Bortoleto secured the fastest lap.

Behind them, Bedrin achieved a career-best third place, followed by Aron, Oliver Goethe, Christian Mansell, Franco Colapinto, Jonny Edgar, Gregoire Saucy, and rounding out the top 10 was Dino Beganovic.

Results: 

*Fastest lap Bortoleto 1:36.474