Cumbria's rising star Jonny Edgar opened his 2023 FIA Formula 3 season in Bahrain on Saturday March 4.

Gaining a solid points finish after showcasing his raw speed and race craft in the Sprint Race. After making a great start from 15th on the grid, Jonny navigated two safety car restarts before crossing the line in 9th place.

For the Feature Race the following day, Jonny started from 15th once more and made another great start, which put the 19 year old in the fight for the points paying positions again, before contact with another driver on lap 5 resulted in front wing damage and an unscheduled pit stop.

"I was much happier with the car compared to the pre-season test and that meant I was able to extract more from the car. Practice was fine, and qualifying was very competitive. We finished P15 but weren’t far off the pole time at all.

In the Sprint Race, I had a great start and moved up to P11, I gained another place on lap two, and then passed another two on the first safety car restart. After the next restart I lost one place, but remained P9 which I was happy with. It was very positive to open the season with some points.

I had another good start in the Feature Race and had worked my way up to P10. Unfortunately, when a car ahead was getting overtaken, they slowed down to cut back into turn 1 and I just clipped his rear tyre with my front wing. I needed to pit and repair the front wing which compromised my race. It was a shame as I think we could have scored another point or two.There were still positives to take away from Bahrain and I’m looking forward to the next round of the championship with MP Motorsport."

The second round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship will see Jonny and his MP Motorsport team make the journey to Melbourne, Australia to race at the world famous Albert Park street circuit on March 31 - April 2. The second round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1.

Bahrain Grand Prix FIA Formula 3

Qualifying
16. J.Edgar (MP Motorsport) +0.480s

Sprint Race
9. J. Edgar (MP Motorsport) +12.359s

Feature Race
23. J Edgar (MP Motorsport) +36.182s

FIA Formula 3 Championship points after 2 of 20 races
14. J Edgar (MP Motorsport) 2pts