The Campos Racing driver, whose previous best finish in the series was ninth at Monza last season, lined up second for the first sprint race of the season behind MP Motorsport polesitter Colapinto.
Marti was close to Colapinto throughout the opening stages and endured two safety car restarts before making his move on lap 14 around the outside of Turn 4.
Despite Williams Academy driver Colapinto looking close to retaking the lead several times, Marti had looked better after his Pirelli tyres and managed to break DRS by the final lap, crossing the line 1.8s ahead of his rival.
Fernando Alonso protege Marti had a difficult rookie season in 2022, but finally clinched his maiden points at the final round in Italy in September before continuing with the Spanish outfit for his second year.
Colapinto settled for second, with fellow series returnee Caio Collet in third for Van Amersfoort Racing.
Colapinto lined up on pole for Saturday’s sprint race and held the lead off the line, while Collet snatched second from Marti at Turn 2.
The first safety car came on lap two after Rafael Villagomez went into the barrier at Turn 4, having been hit by Trident driver Gabriel Bortoleto as the pair raced side-by-side.
Racing resumed on lap seven, with Marti making it back past Collet into second as the Prema pair of Paul Aron and Dino Beganovic tussled behind the leaders.
The yellow flags were almost immediately waved again before a second safety car after Hitech rookie Luke Browning came to a stop at Turn 2, having been caught in the restart tussle.
Lap 12 saw the green flags waved once more, with Marti closing in on Colapinto, attempting a move at Turn 4 before backing off.
It was just two laps before he finally made the decisive move, once again swooping around the outside of Turn 4 to secure the lead, with the leading two drivers 1.5s clear of third-placed Collet.
The Prema pair continued to tussle further back, with Beganovic making it past Aron at Turn 4 on lap 17 for fourth place.
Reigning Euroformula Open champion Oliver Goethe finished sixth for Trident, with ART Grand Prix’s Gregoire Saucy in seventh and Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) in eighth.
Jonny Edgar (MP Motorsport) and Hitech rookie Sebastian Montoya rounded off the top 10.
F3 Bahrain - Race 1 results:
| Cla | # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 | Pepe Martí |  Campos Racing |
||
| 2 | 10 |
 Franco Colapinto |
 MP Motorsport |
1.8 | |
| 3 | 17 |
 Caio Collet |
Van Amersfoort Racing |
5.8 | |
| 4 | 2 | Dino Beganovic |  Prema Powerteam |
9.0 | |
| 5 | 1 | Paul Aron | Prema Powerteam |
9.8 | |
| 6 | 6 | Oliver Goethe | Trident |
10.6 | |
| 7 | 8 |
 Gregoire Saucy |
 ART Grand Prix |
11.1 | |
| 8 | 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident |
11.7 | |
| 9 | 12 |
 Jonny Edgar |
MP Motorsport |
12.3 | |
| 10 | 14 |
 Sebastian Montoya |
Hitech Pulse-Eight | 12.8 | |
| 11 | 25 | Hugh Barter | Campos Racing |
13.6 | |
| 12 | 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident |
14.1 | |
| 13 | 3 |
Zak O'Sullivan |
Prema Powerteam |
14.8 | |
| 14 | 24 | Christian Mansell | Campos Racing |
15.8 | |
| 15 | 27 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer Motorsport |
17.4 | |
| 16 | 11 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport |
18.0 | |
| 17 | 26 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer Motorsport |
19.2 | |
| 18 | 15 | Gabriele Minì | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 19.6 | |
| 19 | 22 |
 Ido Cohen |
Rodin Carlin | 23.4 | |
| 20 | 21 | Hunter Yeany | Rodin Carlin | 24.6 | |
| 21 | 20 | Oliver Gray | Rodin Carlin | 25.0 | |
| 22 | 29 |
 Sophia Flörsch |
PHM Racing by Charouz | 25.3 | |
| 23 | 19 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing |
25.9 | |
| 24 | 30 | Roberto Faria | PHM Racing by Charouz | 38.5 | |
| 25 | 31 | Piotr Wiśnicki | PHM Racing by Charouz | 45.2 | |
| 26 | 9 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix |
47.7 | |
| 27 | 28 | Alex Garcia | Jenzer Motorsport |
1'01.7 | |
| 28 | 7 |
 Kaylen Frederick |
ART Grand Prix |
1'25.3 | |
| 16 | Luke Browning | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 13 laps | ||
| 18 |
 Rafael Villagomez |
Van Amersfoort Racing |
18 laps | ||
| View full results | |||||
