Bortoleto clinches P4 and strengthens FIA F3 Championship lead

The Feature Race that completed the FIA Formula 3 Championship weekend on the ups and downs of Montmelò, brought good points to the championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto, who took a positive fourth place in a comeback run that allows him to strengthen his dominance in the championship standings. Thanks to his two fourth-place finishes, Bortoleto extended his advantage from 17 to 24 points over the closest title contender.
 
The 18-year-old Brazilian started the Feature Race from the sixth position on the grid and managed to climb up to the fourth place with two overtaking moves that were a mix of determination and lucidity, given that the South American kept away from unnecessary risk and achieved the desired result.
 
Leonardo Fornaroli, who was third in yesterday's Sprint Race, was pushed off the track by another driver during the opening lap. The Italian managed to get out of the runoff area, but found himself at the back of the pack with no chance of scoring points.
 
It was not a fruitful weekend for Oliver Goethe, who suffered a ten-second penalty for causing an accident and finished away from the points in P16. The 18-year-old Danish driver hasn't been able to improve his ranking since the 2023 debut in Bahrain when he took P2 in the Feature Race. Now the FIA Formula 3 Championship will be off for one month. The next round will be at Red Bull Ring, in Styria, on the first weekend of July.

 Giacomo Ricci, Team Manager, Feature Race quote:

“Today's Feature Race lends itself to a double reading. On one hand, we are satisfied with the valuable fourth place achieved by Bortoleto, which allowed him to extend his championship lead to 24 points. He showed plenty of intelligence and determination, and that allowed him to recover without taking unnecessary risks. Unfortunately, the fact that our other drivers did not score points in had an impact on the team's ranking. Goethe, who had run an incisive race, suffered a ten-second penalty which took him out of the top ten, while Fornaroli, who was innocently involved in a contact during the opening lap, was forced to go through the gravel and restart from the last spot with a car in non-optimal conditions."