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Megan White

F3 Britain: Colapinto takes first win of 2023

The Argentinian lined up fourth for Saturday's sprint race, with the start delayed by 10 minutes as rain began to fall, though all of the field bar Gregoire Saucy (ART) stuck with slick tyres.

He took third at Village on lap one as team-mate Jonny Edgar fell back off the line as poleman Sebastian Montoya (Hitech) held the lead from Jenzer driver Taylor Barnard.

Williams junior Colapinto held onto third during the safety car, prompted by heavier rainfall and took the lead after contact between Barnard and Montoya on the restart.

From there, he built a strong lead to take his first win since Monza last year, with championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto in second for Trident and Campos' Christian Mansell scoring his maiden podium in third.

Red Bull junior Montoya held the lead off the line, with Barnard in second as Edgar fell back to third.

He was soon passed by Colapinto before Hitech driver Luke Browning took fourth into Stowe and team-mate Gabriele Mini followed him through at the final corner.

Edgar continued to fall down the order, settling for 10th heading into lap three.

The rain, which had slowed, started again on lap five, with Barnard now within DRS of Montoya with another 0.6s back to Colapinto.

Heavier rain came three laps later, with DRS disabled before the safety car was deployed.

The change in conditions prompted several drivers to dive into the pits, with Prema driver Dino Beganovic, who had climbed to 20th from the back of the grid after an engine issue in qualifying, first to stop.

Several others, including the other two Prema drivers Zak O'Sullivan and Paul Aron, Browning and Pepe Marti (Campos) stopped next time round as the rain continued.

The safety car period ended on lap 13 as the rain slowed, with Barnard attempting a move on Montoya into Turn 1, catching his rear and sending him into a spin, falling to 18th, while Barnard suffered a puncture.

This handed Colapinto the lead, with Bortoleto in second and Barnard clinging onto third, though he soon dropped down the order as the puncture took effect.

Those who had stopped began to make good progress, with Beganovic and Aron benefiting the most as the Estonian ran as high as sixth.

But it wasn't to last, as a drying track saw those on slicks again benefit, allowing Mini to reclaim fifth from Aron as Hugh Barter (Campos) did the same.

Caio Collet finished fourth for Van Amersfoort Racing ahead of Mini and Barber, with Sunday polesitter Leonardo Fornaroli in seventh for Trident.

Montoya climbed back to eighth after the contact from Barnard, with Ido Cohen in ninth for Carlin and Aron rounding off the top 10.

Cla Driver Team Gap
1 Argentina Franco Colapinto Netherlands MP Motorsport  
2 Gabriel Bortoleto Italy Trident 3.700
3 Christian Mansell Spain Campos Racing 5.800
4 Brazil Caio Collet Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 6.200
5 Gabriele Minì Hitech Pulse-Eight 14.500
6 Hugh Barter Spain Campos Racing 17.400
7 Leonardo Fornaroli Italy Trident 19.600
8 Colombia Sebastian Montoya Hitech Pulse-Eight 23.600
9 Israel Ido Cohen Rodin Carlin 42.000
10 Pepe Martí Spain Campos Racing 52.700
11 Alex Garcia Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 52.800
12 Paul Aron Italy Prema Powerteam 53.300
13 Dino Beganovic Italy Prema Powerteam 54.200
14 Luke Browning Hitech Pulse-Eight 54.800
15 Nikola Tsolov France ART Grand Prix 55.900
16 United Kingdom Zak O'Sullivan Italy Prema Powerteam 57.400
17 Oliver Goethe Italy Trident 58.300
18 Nikita Bedrin Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 1'01.400
19 Germany Sophia Flörsch PHM Racing by Charouz 1'07.700
20 Mexico Rafael Villagomez Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1'08.800
21 Mari Boya Netherlands MP Motorsport 1'11.000
22 Oliver Gray Rodin Carlin 1'11.600
23 Switzerland Gregoire Saucy France ART Grand Prix 1'11.700
24 United States Kaylen Frederick France ART Grand Prix 1'13.900
25 McKenzy Cresswell PHM Racing by Charouz 1'14.900
26 Max Esterson Rodin Carlin 1'16.400
27 Roberto Faria PHM Racing by Charouz 1'27.000
28 Tommy Smith Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1'31.900
29 United Kingdom Jonny Edgar Netherlands MP Motorsport 1'43.000
30 Taylor Barnard Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 1'50.600
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