Roundup of the third round of 2024 F3 season at Imola, Emilia Romagna, Italy.
Luke Browning and Leonardo Fornaroli arrived at Imola scrapping over the title lead on a weekend which delivered a dramatic Sprint which rumbled on post-race, followed by a maiden winner in an entertaining Feature Race packed with plenty of scraps up front.
Now, here is a full roundup of the third round of 2024 F3 season.
Practice
Christian Mansell and his ART GP teammates were first out on track but it was MP Motorsport’s Kacper Sztuka who set the benchmark time of 1m 56.983 but was displaced by Joseph Loake, who twice lowered the benchmark to 1m 36.795.
PREMA’s Dino Beganovic and Arvid Lindblad soon led a number of drivers who lowered the benchmark time further, with Jenzer’s Charlie Wurz sat top with 1m 33.268 as the red flag came out in the second minute after Sebastian Montoya crashed at Variante Alta.
The session resumed six minutes later with MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz first back on track but it would be Alex Dunne then Max Esterson who went fastest as the lead began to change hands.
Campos’ Oliver Goethe eventually finished quickest with 1m 32.047 from Luke Browning and Mari Boya, although the session finished five minutes early after Rodin’s Piotr Wisnicki became the second driver to crash at Alta.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 1m 32.047 |
| 2 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 0.344 |
| 3 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 0.581 |
| 4 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.658 |
| 5 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 0.680 |
| 6 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 0.763 |
| 7 | Gabriel Mini | PREMA | + 0.783 |
| 8 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 0.823 |
| 9 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.837 |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 0.854 |
| 11 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 0.873 |
| 12 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 0.884 |
| 13 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.944 |
| 14 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 0.963 |
| 15 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 1.043 |
| 16 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 1.131 |
| 17 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 1.141 |
| 18 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.200 |
| 19 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 1.230 |
| 20 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 1.271 |
| 21 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 1.316 |
| 22 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 1.558 |
| 23 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 1.598 |
| 24 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 1.794 |
| 25 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 1.850 |
| 26 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 2.110 |
| 27 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 2.238 |
| 28 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvask | AIX Racing | + 2.513 |
| 29 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 28.225 |
| 30 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 35.761 |
Qualifying
Tramnitz, Sztuka and Dunne were first out on track and it was the German who set the benchmark representative lap of 1m 32.978, but it was deleted after he exceeded track limits.
Mini found himself fastest after the opening laps were completed with the Italian and his compatriot, Fornaroli heading the order from Van Hoepen in third ahead of the rest of the pack.
The red flags were however deployed with 20 minutes and 14 seconds after Voisin spun out at Tamburello, and the session resumed five minutes later with Goethe and Fornaroli changing fastest laps as the Italian went quickest with 1m 32.159 from Dunne.
At the checkered flag, Ramos stole a shock maiden pole from Fornaroli and Meguetounif as Trident locked out the first three grid spots, ahead of Lindblad, Beganovic and Mini in a PREMA 4-5-6, with Goethe, Van Hoepen, Browning, Tramnitz, Leon and Sztuka rounding out the top 12.
Sztuka took reverse pole for the Sprint as the top 12 qualifiers were reversed, after Dunne had been disqualified from his initial fifth place after his front anti-roll bar links didn’t conform to regulations.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 1m 31.767 |
| 2 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.053 |
| 3 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 0.252 |
| 4 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 0.342 |
| 5 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 0.389 |
| 6 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | + 0.411 |
| 7 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 0.513 |
| 8 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.655 |
| 9 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 0.662 |
| 10 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.732 |
| 11 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.746 |
| 12 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 0.748 |
| 13 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | + 0.910 |
| 14 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.942 |
| 15 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 1.020 |
| 16 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 1.071 |
| 17 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 1.102 |
| 18 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 1.184 |
| 19 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 1.238 |
| 20 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 1.279 |
| 21 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 1.302 |
| 22 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 1.318 |
| 23 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 1.368 |
| 24 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 1.368 |
| 25 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.369 |
| 26 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 1.450 |
| 27 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 1.470 |
| 28 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 1.669 |
| 29 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvask | AIX Racing | + 1.784 |
| DSQ | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | Anti-Roll Bar |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Sztuka retained his lead but Leon got past into Tamburello to take the lead but further back, Boya was eliminated at the Villeneuve chicane due to contact with Tommy Smith which caused the safety car to be deployed.
Sztuka meanwhile lost two further positions to Tramnitz and Goethe and slipped to fourth.
Racing resumed at the end of Lap 3 with Van Hoepen losing two positions to Beganovic and Meguetounif through Villeneuve into Tosa on Lap 4.
Voisin however crashed out at Tosa a lap later which brought the safety car back out until the end of Lap 7, but was deployed barely seconds later after Meguetounif crashed out at Tamburello as he took evasive action to avoid a late-braking Beganovic.
Leon led everyone back racing on Lap 11 during which Mini passed Van Hoepen for seventh before Goethe further up cleared Tramnitz for second two laps later.
The safety car however was again deployed on Lap 13 for one lap after Tasanapol Inthraphuvask stopped briefly on track, only to recover to the pit with a race-ending mechanical issue.
Once racing resumed on Lap 15, everyone held position until Beganovic cleared Sztuka for fourth on Lap 17 at Tamburello, but the Polish driver then shut the door on Browning into Tosa which caused the Brit race-ending damage and caused the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) to be deployed.
Amidst the immediate chaos, Van Hoepen snuck past Mini to take sixth whilst the Italian tried to avoid Browning as the Brit crawled over to the gravel to retire his car.
The VSC ended on the final lap as the leaders approached Rivazza and Goethe reacted quickest to pounce and passed Leon for victory, only to get a five-second time penalty for failing to stay above the minimum time which handed Leon his first F3 win.
Goethe however was awarded victory upon appeal and Tramnitz had his own time penalty also rescinded, which saw him promoted from third to second after Leon was handed a 5s time penalty for weaving despite being instructed by stewards in a drivers’ meeting not to do so.
Beganovic and Sztuka rounded out the top five whilst Mini repassed Van Hoepen for sixth, as Lindblad, Bedrin and Ramos rounded out the top ten.
In the driver standings, Browning and Fornaroli remained top on 37 points apiece, albeit now with Mini tied with the pair but Beganovic sat two points further back ahead of Tramnitz and Lindblad.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 18 | 34m 19.754 |
| 2 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 18 | + 2.157 |
| 3 | Noel Leon | VAR | 18 | + 5.340 |
| 4 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 18 | + 8.266 |
| 5 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 18 | + 8.811 |
| 6 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 18 | + 9.404 |
| 7 | Laurens Van Hoepen | ART GP | 18 | + 9.795 |
| 8 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 18 | + 10.268 |
| 9 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 18 | + 10.829 |
| 10 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 18 | + 11.196 |
| 11 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 18 | + 11.675 |
| 12 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 18 | + 12.352 |
| 13 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 18 | + 12.950 |
| 14 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 18 | + 13.979 |
| 15 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 18 | + 14.458 |
| 16 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 18 | + 15.500 |
| 17 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 18 | + 18.617 |
| 18 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 18 | + 18.863 |
| 19 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 18 | + 19.224 |
| 20 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 18 | + 19.541 |
| 21 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 18 | + 20.039 |
| 22 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 18 | + 20.680 |
| 23 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 18 | + 25.023 |
| 24 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 18 | + 30.860 |
| 25 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 18 | + 33.815 |
| 26 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 16 | Collision |
| 27 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvask | AIX Racing | 12 | Mechanical |
| 28 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 7 | Spin |
| 29 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 4 | Collision |
| 30 | Mari Boya | Campos | 0 | Collision |
Feature Race
At lights out, Ramos led from Fornaroli, Meguetounif and Lindblad but Goethe jumped Beganovic for fifth as Mini lost six positions due to a slow start.
Sprint winner, Goethe passed Lindblad for fourth a lap later but on Lap 3, Fornaroli passed Ramos for the lead into Tamburello, whilst Browning passed Beganovic for sixth but was repassed into Villeneuve on the next lap.
On Lap 6, Fornaroli suffered a brief engine cut which handed Goethe the lead as he fell to fifth whilst Ramos and Meguetounif swapped positions on Lap 12 to allow the Frenchman to fight Goethe for victory whilst Ramos was soon passed by Fornaroli and Browning.
Up front, Goethe fell into the clutches of Meguetounif as tyre degradation began to become a huge issue in the last seven laps, as the Frenchman found himself within DRS range of Goethe and swept round the outside of Tamburello on Lap 18 for the lead and maiden F3 victory.
Goethe clung on to second ahead of Fornaroli and Browning who pushed him to the checkered flag, whilst Beganovic, Mini, Lindblad, Ramos, Boya and Montoya rounded out the top ten.
In the drivers’ standings, Fornaroli moved into the sole lead with a three-point lead over Browning with a further four points gap to Beganovic and Mini, whilst Goethe rounded out the top five as Meguetounif’s win lifted him to sixth and 16 points off the title lead.
F3 now heads to Monaco from 23-26 May for a huge weekend of action on the streets of the Principality.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 22 | 35m 12.897 |
| 2 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 22 | + 2.791 |
| 3 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 22 | + 3.368 |
| 4 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 22 | + 3.686 |
| 5 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 22 | + 5.724 |
| 6 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 22 | + 6.972 |
| 7 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMAA | 22 | + 11.575 |
| 8 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 22 | + 12.736 |
| 9 | Mari Boya | Campos | 22 | + 13.098 |
| 10 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 22 | + 14.769 |
| 11 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 22 | + 18.634 |
| 12 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 22 | + 21.658 |
| 13 | Lauren van Hoepen | ART GP | 22 | + 22.654 |
| 14 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 22 | + 23.516 |
| 15 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 22 | + 23.554 |
| 16 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 22 | + 24.295 |
| 17 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 22 | + 25.720 |
| 18 | Cian Shield | Hitech GP | 22 | + 29.529 |
| 19 | Noel Leon | VAR | 22 | + 30.045 |
| 20 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 22 | + 31.500 |
| 21 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 22 | + 32.271 |
| 22 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 22 | + 35.023 |
| 23 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 22 | + 37.573 |
| 24 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 22 | + 40.316 |
| 25 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 22 | + 40.585 |
| 26 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 22 | + 42.360 |
| 27 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvask | AIX Racing | 22 | + 51.428 |
| 28 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 22 | + 59.188 |
| 29 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 22 | + 76.623 |
| 30 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 21 | + 1 Lap |
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