The Monaco Grand Prix marks the start of the European campaign on the FIA F3 calendar and Martí, Mansell and Barter will be setting their sights on the points-paying positions
Campos Racing and their trio of young talents Pepe Martí, Christian Mansell and Hugh Barter are keen to get back on track for the third round of the 2023 FIA Formula 3 Championship season, which is set to take place in the frame of the Monaco Grand Prix instead of Imola, as the later was cancelled as a result of recent mass flooding in Italy. After making an ultra-competitive start to the season in Bahrain and Australia, the series enters the European phase with Campos Racing approaching the summer months in high spirits. The Formula 3 will make its comeback to Monaco for the first time since 2005, despite the championship also visited the venue in 2012 under the moniker of the GP3 Series.
Pepe Martí, Christian Mansell and Hugh Barter will be three drivers to take into consideration at the wheel of their Dallara F3 cars in Campos Racing colors, despite they will stepping into the unknown in the narrow streets of the Principality. With two more races taking place on Monegasque soil, Campos Racing will be pushing as hard as ever to translate performance into more remarkable results.
Spaniard Martí is turning into one of the fastest drivers on the grid. Martí achieved his maiden win in the series at Bahrain’s curtain-raiser event by winning the Sprint race. He finished sixth the following day adding more points to his tally. Melbourne had begun in the worse possible way when he crashed out in qualifying and was forced to start both races from the back. It turned into a display of pure speed later in the races. The Spanish driver overtook more than 30 cars over the weekend and finished seventh in Australia’s Race 2. At the moment, Martí is fifth in the standings.
Australian Mansell and Japanese-Australian Barter are also excellently performing in the series. In fact, Mansell secured two top-ten results at his home round in Melbourne by finishing ninth and tenth. Besides, he set the fastest lap of the race on Saturday. Barter, who is making his debut in the series, has already showed his skills in qualifying and it won’t take much longer before convert it into points.
Campos Racing sits fifth in the teams’ standings ahead of the third round of the series.
Monaco’s first Grand Prix date back to the late twenties of the last century. Besides, the venue already appeared in the inaugural 1950 Formula 1 season, which reflects its rich history and tradition in motorsport. As a typical street circuit, asphalt is smooth and slippery and rarely tire wear and degradation are a potential issue throughout the weekend. The cars are run in obvious high-downforce configuration to take the most out of aerodynamical grip. At the same time, mechanical grip is also quite important as excellent traction is a “must” in order to be competitive in Monte Carlo. Last but not least, qualifying is one of the most important moments in Monaco as overtaking is extremely difficult and the short layout leaves minor margins for mistakes.
Free practice will take place on Thursday at 13.30. Qualifying session will be split in two sessions, odds and evens, at 11.10 and 11.34 respectively on Friday. Saturday’s sprint race is scheduled at 11.00 with Sunday’s feature race taking place at 08.00. All times are CET.
Adrián Campos (Campos Racing Team Principal): “We feel very motivated when the series enters the European stages. Our cars set very competitive pace in qualifying and race and we feel confident to extend the streak of positive results in Monte Carlo. Probably it will be a very difficult weekend as it’s a new circuit for everybody but it promises to be exciting at the same time.”
Pepe Martí (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): “I am really looking forward to racing in Monaco, it will be a first experience for me in street circuits so I’m extremely excited. After the cancelled Imola GP I am even more energized and ready to get going. Can’t wait to hit the track on Thursday and get a feel for what the principality is like.”
Hugh Barter (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): “Really looking forward to this weekend. Driving at Monaco is something you dream of as a kid so to be here so early in my dream is surreal. It’s a track that none of the teams have been to in FIA F3 so everyone will be trying to learn as much as possible in the FP but we had good pace as a team in the tests and obviously it’s going to be different driving at a street circuit but I am confident that we will be able to carry that pace to this round. Let’s see what happens”
Christian Mansell (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): “It’s time to hit the streets. So keen to get on track and feel the Monaco magic.”
