# 2023 Sakhir Formula 3 round

The 2023 Sakhir FIA Formula 3 round was a motor race held on 4 and 5 March 2023 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir. It was the opening round of the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship, held in support of the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix.

## Background
### Team changes

German Formula 4 team PHM Racing took over the entry and assets of Charouz Racing System at the end of the 2022 season, and runs in cooperation with the Czech squad under the PHM Racing by Charouz moniker.

## Classification
### Qualifying

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Time/Gap | Grid SR | Grid FR |
| 1 | 15 | Gabriele Minì | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 1:47.055 | 12 | 1 |
| 2 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | +0.057 | 11 | 2 |
| 3 | 8 | Grégoire Saucy | ART Grand Prix | +0.111 | 10 | 3 |
| 4 | 6 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | +0.135 | 9 | 4 |
| 5 | 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos Racing | +0.219 | 8 | 5 |
| 6 | 7 | Kaylen Frederick | ART Grand Prix | +0.228 | 7 | 6 |
| 7 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | +0.235 | 6 | 7 |
| 8 | 2 | Dino Beganovic | Prema Racing | +0.265 | 5 | 8 |
| 9 | 1 | Paul Aron | Prema Racing | +0.267 | 4 | 9 |
| 10 | 17 | Caio Collet | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.316 | 3 | 10 |
| 11 | 23 | Pepe Martí | Campos Racing | +0.336 | 2 | 11 |
| 12 | 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | +0.343 | 1 | 12 |
| 13 | 24 | Christian Mansell | Campos Racing | +0.396 | 13 | 13 |
| 14 | 14 | Sebastián Montoya | Hitech Pulse-Eight | +0.421 | 14 | 14 |
| 15 | 12 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | +0.480 | 15 | 15 |
| 16 | 9 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix | +0.538 | 16 | 16 |
| 17 | 16 | Luke Browning | Hitech Pulse-Eight | +0.639 | 17 | 17 |
| 18 | 3 | Zak O'Sullivan | Prema Racing | +0.662 | 18 | 18 |
| 19 | 11 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | +0.830 | 19 | 19 |
| 20 | 18 | Rafael Villagómez | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.895 | 20 | 20 |
| 21 | 20 | Oliver Gray | Rodin Carlin | +1.145 | 24 | 21 |
| 22 | 26 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer Motorsport | +1.148 | 21 | 22 |
| 23 | 31 | Piotr Wiśnicki | PHM Racing by Charouz | +1.460 | 22 | 23 |
| 24 | 29 | Sophia Flörsch | PHM Racing by Charouz | +1.604 | 23 | 24 |
| 25 | 22 | Ido Cohen | Rodin Carlin | +1.610 | 25 | 25 |
| 26 | 21 | Hunter Yeany | Rodin Carlin | +1.630 | 26 | 26 |
| 27 | 19 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing | +1.632 | 27 | 27 |
| 28 | 28 | Alex García | Jenzer Motorsport | +2.129 | 28 | 28 |
| 29 | 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing by Charouz | +2.410 | 29 | 29 |
| 107% time: 1:54.548 (+7.693) |||||||
| — | 27 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer Motorsport | +14.138 | 30 | 30 |
| Source: |||||||
Notes
* ^1 – Oliver Gray originally qualified twenty-first, but later received a three-place grid drop for Saturday's Sprint race after he was found to have impeded Roberto Faria at Turn 15.

### Sprint race

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Gap | Grid | Pts. |
| 1 | 23 | Pepe Martí | Campos Racing | 19 | 43:15.477 | 2 | 10 (1) |
| 2 | 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 19 | +1.805 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | 17 | Caio Collet | Van Amersfoort Racing | 19 | +5.879 | 3 | 8 |
| 4 | 2 | Dino Beganovic | Prema Racing | 19 | +9.017 | 5 | 7 |
| 5 | 1 | Paul Aron | Prema Racing | 19 | +9.848 | 4 | 6 |
| 6 | 6 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 19 | +10.623 | 9 | 5 |
| 7 | 8 | Grégoire Saucy | ART Grand Prix | 19 | +11.157 | 10 | 4 |
| 8 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 19 | +11.737 | 6 | 3 |
| 9 | 12 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 19 | +12.359 | 15 | 2 |
| 10 | 14 | Sebastián Montoya | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 19 | +12.897 | 14 | 1 |
| 11 | 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos Racing | 19 | +13.663 | 8 | |
| 12 | 3 | Zak O'Sullivan | Prema Racing | 19 | +14.829 | 18 | |
| 13 | 24 | Christian Mansell | Campos Racing | 19 | +15.819 | 13 | |
| 14 | 27 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer Motorsport | 19 | +17.461 | 30 | |
| 15 | 11 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 19 | +18.032 | 19 | |
| 16 | 26 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer Motorsport | 19 | +19.240 | 21 | |
| 17 | 15 | Gabriele Minì | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 19 | +19.663 | 12 | |
| 18 | 22 | Ido Cohen | Rodin Carlin | 19 | +23.416 | 25 | |
| 19 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | 19 | +24.111 | 11 | |
| 20 | 21 | Hunter Yeany | Rodin Carlin | 19 | +24.671 | 26 | |
| 21 | 20 | Oliver Gray | Rodin Carlin | 19 | +25.049 | 24 | |
| 22 | 29 | Sophia Flörsch | PHM Racing by Charouz | 19 | +25.373 | PL | |
| 23 | 19 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing | 19 | +25.951 | 27 | |
| 24 | 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing by Charouz | 19 | +38.570 | 29 | |
| 25 | 31 | Piotr Wiśnicki | PHM Racing by Charouz | 19 | +45.222 | PL | |
| 26 | 9 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix | 19 | +47.787 | 16 | |
| 27 | 28 | Alex García | Jenzer Motorsport | 19 | +1:01.777 | 28 | |
| 28 | 7 | Kaylen Frederick | ART Grand Prix | 19 | +1:25.936 | 7 | |
| DNF | 16 | Luke Browning | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 6 | Collision damage | 17 | |
| DNF | 18 | Rafael Villagómez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1 | Collision | 20 | |
| Fastest lap set by Pepe Martí: 1:50.867 (lap 14) ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||
Notes
* ^2 – Gabriel Bortoleto originally finished twelfth, but was later given a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision with Rafael Villagómez on lap 2, demoting him to nineteenth place.

### Feature race

| Pos. | No. | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/Gap | Grid | Pts. |
| 1 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | 22 | 44:33.107 | 2 | 25 (1) |
| 2 | 6 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 22 | +0.869 | 4 | 18 |
| 3 | 2 | Dino Beganovic | Prema Racing | 22 | +1.109 | 8 | 15 |
| 4 | 8 | Grégoire Saucy | ART Grand Prix | 22 | +1.324 | 3 | 12 |
| 5 | 16 | Luke Browning | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 22 | +1.691 | 17 | 10 |
| 6 | 23 | Pepe Martí | Campos Racing | 22 | +1.848 | 11 | 8 |
| 7 | 7 | Kaylen Frederick | ART Grand Prix | 22 | +2.114 | 6 | 6 |
| 8 | 15 | Gabriele Minì | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 22 | +4.600 | 1 | 4 (2) |
| 9 | 14 | Sebastián Montoya | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 22 | +6.814 | 14 | 2 |
| 10 | 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 22 | +9.834 | 12 | 1 |
| 11 | 3 | Zak O'Sullivan | Prema Racing | 22 | +15.831 | 18 | |
| 12 | 1 | Paul Aron | Prema Racing | 22 | +18.181 | 9 | |
| 13 | 24 | Christian Mansell | Campos Racing | 22 | +18.265 | 13 | |
| 14 | 17 | Caio Collet | Van Amersfoort Racing | 22 | +19.202 | 10 | |
| 15 | 9 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix | 22 | +19.227 | 16 | |
| 16 | 27 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer Motorsport | 22 | +19.602 | 30 | |
| 17 | 26 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer Motorsport | 22 | +22.022 | 22 | |
| 18 | 22 | Ido Cohen | Rodin Carlin | 22 | +25.202 | 25 | |
| 19 | 18 | Rafael Villagómez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 22 | +25.636 | 20 | |
| 20 | 29 | Sophia Flörsch | PHM Racing by Charouz | 22 | +28.433 | 24 | |
| 21 | 20 | Oliver Gray | Rodin Carlin | 22 | +30.088 | 21 | |
| 22 | 21 | Hunter Yeany | Rodin Carlin | 22 | +35.461 | 26 | |
| 23 | 12 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 22 | +36.182 | 15 | |
| 24 | 31 | Piotr Wiśnicki | PHM Racing by Charouz | 22 | +37.365 | 23 | |
| 25 | 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing by Charouz | 22 | +45.304 | 29 | |
| 26 | 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos Racing | 22 | +1:07.515 | 5 | |
| 27 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 21 | +1 lap | 7 | |
| 28 | 19 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing | 20 | +2 laps | 27 | |
| 29 | 28 | Alex García | Jenzer Motorsport | 19 | +3 laps | 28 | |
| DNF | 11 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 6 | Collision damage | 19 | |
| Fastest lap set by Gabriel Bortoleto: 1:50.743 (lap 2) ||||||||
| Source: ||||||||
Notes
* ^3 – Paul Aron originally finished eleventh, but was later given a five-second time-penalty for causing a collision with Zak O'Sullivan.
* ^4 – Oliver Gray originally finished eighteenth, but was later given a five-second time-penalty for track limits violations.
* ^5 – Tommy Smith and Alex García both retired from the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

## Standings after the event

| Pos. | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Gabriel Bortoleto | 26 |
| 2 | Oliver Goethe | 23 |
| 3 | Dino Beganovic | 22 |
| 4 | Pepe Martí | 19 |
| 5 | Grégoire Saucy | 16 |
| Pos. | Team | Points |
| 1 | Trident | 52 |
| 2 | Prema Racing | 28 |
| 3 | ART Grand Prix | 22 |
| 4 | Campos Racing | 19 |
| 5 | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 19 |
* Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.