In a race filled with incidents, safety cars and mixed conditions, the sprint race in Spa ultimately awarded no points despite everything that occurred. Though Caio Collet crossed the line in first place and was awarded the third win of his FIA Formula 3 career, he will have no points added to his 2023 tally, and the same goes for the rest of the drivers who finished in a points-paying position. Here’s what the top three had to say about the decision shortly after the end of the race.

By Daniele Spadi

The decision comes straight out of the 2023 FIA F3 Sporting Regulations, where the rules regarding this scenario can be found in chapter 6.5 section b), which states that “no points will be awarded unless a minimum of two (2) laps have been completed by the leader without a Safety Car and/or VSC intervention.”

Today’s sprint race did not get two full laps under green flag conditions. With the safety vehicle making its way out on track right at the end of lap one and before the end of lap nine, lap eight was actually the only lap completed under green flag conditions. As a result, the race awarded no points. The drivers that finished on the podium understood the situation but felt like the decision doesn’t truly reflect the amount of action they had on track today.

The correct decision, but was it fair?

“Not much to say. We also did a bit of racing. We still had to manage lap 1 and the safety car restarts,” race winner Caio Collet said. “In the end, you still go racing, you need to manage lap one, you need to manage the safety car restarts, keep your tyres in temperature because you don’t know what’s going to happen. […] So I guess half points would be nice! But it’s the regulations, and there’s nothing we can do.”

Third-place finisher Paul Aron, who is currently fighting for the top positions in the championship, also agreed with the Brazilian. “To be honest, I’m very disappointed. Obviously, it is what it is. We can’t do anything about it. Obviously for me, fighting in the championship for second place, and even for the championship lead it’s disappointing because it cost me a lot, and tomorrow I’m starting further back.”

Despite the elation coming from taking his first-ever FIA F3 podium, Jenzer’s Taylor Barnard was also in agreeance with his fellow podium finishers. “I think all three of us sitting here disagree with the decision. We didn’t have many laps of racing, for sure you still have to manage the safety car restarts, you have to manage the tyre temperature and you actually don’t know when the next safety car is going to come, so you need to manage it and you need to keep pushing at all times.”

Safety first

Conditions were very tricky to read at the start, as the rain started to fall down during the formation lap.

“To be honest I was surprised they let the race start because Eau Rouge and turn nine was extremely wet,” Barnard explained. “I think everyone being on slicks definitely caused some miscommunication between the drivers, and it could have caused potentially a crash. Considering what happened a few weeks ago, I think it was slightly dangerous.”

However, safety was the first thing the stewards thought about at the end of the race. In fact, the last lap of today’s sprint could have been the one to settle the debate, since the safety car looked ready to come back to the pits and let the drivers race for one last time today. However, because of the difficult weather conditions and the contrast between a very wet track surface and the drivers’ cold slick tyres, the race did not resume and the safety car stayed out for one more lap, ultimately sealing the deal and awarding no points to the top ten finishers.

“The last lap, sector two was proper, proper wet,” Collet said when asked about the decision not to go back racing in the end. “For one lap, there is no point. The conditions were quite tricky, to be on slick tyres in the last lap, especially in sector two because the rain came there first. So for me, obviously for me in the lead I was glad, but also even if I was second or third, it’s a risk that you don’t need to take.”

Aron agreed with his rival. “I think considering the circumstances, it was the right call. […] It’s always difficult to know what to expect if the track is getting more wet and you only have one lap. I think it was the right call in safety standards, but obviously [it’s] a shame that we didn’t have enough laps to get the points.”

Header photo credit: James Gasperotti / Van Amersfoort Racing