Edgar secures maiden F3 victory in action-packed season finale

MP Motorsport’s Jonny Edgar secured his maiden Formula 3 victory, at Monza, in an action-packed season finale where the safety car made numerous appearances.

How the race unfolded…

Trouble struck for the pole sitter, Oliver Goethe, as the Trident suffered mechanical problems with his throttle at the end of the first formation lap. While the pack settled themselves into their grid boxes, Goethe moved over to the pit exit as he crossed the start line to retire. 

This forced race control to abort the race start and another formation lap was conducted.

It was a smooth start from Van Amersfoort Racing’s Caio Collet who led the race from second on the grid. However, it wasn’t long before the yellow flags were out and the safety car deployed as MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto was stranded in the middle of the circuit. 

Replays showed the MP Motorsport was forced off the circuit at the Della Roggia Chicane, at turn five, and suffered terminal suspension damage which resulted in the deployment of the safety car.

The Formula 3 champion-elect, Trident’s Gabriele Bortoleto who secured the title in qualifying on Friday, sat in third just behind, race leader, Collet and Edgar who sat in second. 

Formula 3’s final race of the season finally got back underway at the end of lap three as Bernd Maylander dragged the Mercedes safety car back into the pit lane. 

At the end of the restart lap, Bortoleto lost time around the long right-hander of the Parabolica and was quickly put under pressure by Prema’s paring of Zak O’Sullivan and Paul Aron and Trident teammate Leonardo Fornaroli.

The championship winner locked up into the first corner and was forced to weave through the run-off area. When he returned he let those drivers through and found himself in a battle with ART’s Gregoire Saucy.

Contact was quickly made between Saucy and Bortoleto in the sequence of corners through the Della Roggia Chicane (T5) and the first Lesmo corner (T6). 

As the two drivers raced towards Lesmo 2 (T7), Saucy veered off track with an unexpected puncture – obtained by the contact between Saucy and Bortoleto – and into the gravel trap. 

At the end of lap eight, the race returned to green-flag conditions with Edgar out in front of Collet. 

After a handful of laps of green flag racing conditions, the safety car was deployed once more as Sebastian Montoya was tagged by Gabriele Mini behind into turn four. 

As a result of the contact, Montoya was bounced into the gravel trap and the Colombian could not return to the circuit. Once the car was removed the race returned to racing conditions on lap 16. 

When the pack reached turn one, Collet attempted a move to take the race lead but the driver was not able to make it stick and Edgar remained out in front. As a result of the attempted move, O’Sullivan took advantage of Collet’s failed attempt and moved up to second between Edgar and Collet. 

The safety car was redeployed at the end of the restart lap as both Campos’ Josep Maria Marti and Rodin Carlin’s Ido Cohen were seen beached in the gravel trap of turn three.

While the track Marshals continued to remove the two stranded cars out on track, PHM Racing by Charouz’s Roberto Faria pulled off to the side of the circuit as the field continued to follow the safety car around.

At the end of the 20th lap, the final lap of the 2023 F3 season was sent back to green-flag conditions as Edgar caught the field napping. While previous restarts were held until the first control line, Edgar changed it up and bolted on the run to the final corner. 

This allowed the race leader to have some breathing room throughout the final lap as O’Sullivan could never put Edgar under pressure. In turn, it allowed the MP driver to obtain his maiden Formula 3 victory in the season finale.

Podium: 

1. Jonny Edgar, MP Motorsport
2. Zak O’Sullivan, Prema
3. Taylor Barnard, Jenzer Racing

That’s it for the article: Edgar secures maiden F3 victory in action-packed season finale!

Read more F3 here

• Spanish GP: Marti dominates lights to flag F3 feature race win
• F3 Bahrain Sprint: Marti secures first win of 2023 in season opener
• F3 Bahrain: Bortoleto fastest in first practice of 2023 season
• Dams confirm Arthur Leclerc to join 2023 F2 grid
• 2023 Dutch Feature Race: Maloney takes back-to-back win in Zandvoort
• F3 Dutch Sprint: Collet secures victory after early move on Correa

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Kamron Kent

Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.

I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.

Kamron Kent

Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.