Brazilian driver wins feature race in Bahrain
The 2023 season of the FIA F3 Championship started this weekend. The competition took place at the Bahrain International Autodrome, in the Middle East, and Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, making his debut in the category, was the big name of the weekend. The driver won the main race of the round, held this Sunday, and already opens the championship with 26 points.
The race weekend started on Friday morning with the free practice session. In this only opportunity to prepare the car, Bortoleto was the fastest on the track and went confidently to the qualifying. In the qualifying session, which determined the starting grid for Sunday’s race, Gabriel set a time of 1’47.112 and secured the second position with a five-hundredths difference to the pole-position.
The first race of the weekend – the sprint race – was held on Saturday morning. The starting grid for this race is defined by the inversion of the first 12 positions from the start time. Thus, Gabriel started from 11th place, opening the sixth row. In a complex race, in which the Brazilian driver even had a touch with another competitor, he finished the race in 19th position.
BRAZILIAN ANTHEM ON THE PODIUM
The main race of the weekend took place this Sunday morning. Bortoleto positioned his car on the first row of the grid and, after an excellent start, jumped to the lead even before the first corner. Taking advantage of the good performance of his car, the Brazilian imposed a very strong pace and, with five laps completed, he was already more than three seconds ahead of the rest of the pack. However, the entry of a safety car realigned the field. At the restart, again very well, Bortoleto held on to the lead, under pressure from Gabriele Mini, who was second. At that moment, however, the organization informed a 5-second penalty for Mini. So, Gabriel opened the way for the competitor and, managing the degradation of the tires, he continued quietly in the second place in track position, knowing that, in fact, he was the leader. In the penultimate lap, again, the Safety-Car was triggered and, with no time for the organization to solve the problem on track, the checkered flag was displayed with the cars behind the Safety-Car.
Before the watchful eyes of Fernando Alonso, the manager of his career, Bortoleto climbed the top step of the podium and celebrated his FIA F3 debut victory to the sound of the Brazilian National Anthem.
“I’m very happy with my victory in my FIA F3 debut. Our car has shown to be very good since the post-season test last year. I also did very well in the pre-season, and this weekend, from the moment we entered the track, I did very well. I thank my team, my sponsors, and my family very much. I will not get complacent and we will keep working to keep us at a very high level for the rest of the season,” said the driver.
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Press office of KTF Sports
Responsible journalist: Flávio Quick