Roundup of the opening round of the 2024 F3 season in Sakhir, Bahrain.
The new season saw several drivers return from 2023 alongside plenty of new rookies which quickly delivered plenty of entertainment, as two British drivers triumphed on the opening weekend of the campaign.
Now, here is a full roundup of the first round of the 2024 F3 season in Bahrain.
Practice
MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne led the entire field out for the opening practice session of the new season but everyone retreated to the pits due to windy conditions.
Hitech GP rookies, Cian Shields and Martinius Stenshorne were the first drivers to eventually venture back out in the 22nd minute, with Stenshorne setting the representative benchmark time of 1m 53.071 six minuts later.
Rodin’s Joseph Loake briefly went top a minute later with 1m 50.121 but his lap was deleted after he exceeded track limits, which elevated Callum Voisin to the top before Leonardo Fornaroli went quickest with 1m 48.599.
The session was red flagged with 11 minutes left after PREMA’s Gabriele Mini spun out at Turn 4 with a rear brake lock-up, before resuming five minutes later which led to a late flurry of laps.
Williams F1 junior, Luke Browning – who had dominated pre-season testing – eventually finished fastest with 1m 47.828 ahead of Fornaroli by 0.055 seconds, with PREMA’s Dino Beganovic in third position.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 1m 47.828 |
| 2 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.055 |
| 3 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 0.748 |
| 4 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.914 |
| 5 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 0.922 |
| 6 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.935 |
| 7 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 0.939 |
| 8 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.964 |
| 9 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 1.025 |
| 10 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 1.325 |
| 11 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 1.354 |
| 12 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 1.356 |
| 13 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 1.507 |
| 14 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 1.549 |
| 15 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 1.639 |
| 16 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 1.684 |
| 17 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 1.771 |
| 18 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.825 |
| 19 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 1.826 |
| 20 | Joshua Dufek | PHM Racing | + 1.949 |
| 21 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 2.069 |
| 22 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 2.222 |
| 23 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | PHM Racing | + 2.266 |
| 24 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 2.276 |
| 25 | Nikita Bedrin | PHM Racing | + 2.390 |
| 26 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 2.396 |
| 27 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 28.520 |
| 28 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | + 32.845 |
| 29 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 36.985 |
| 30 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 48.112 |
Qualifying
Shields was first out on track in Qualifying but it was Fornaroli who quickly set the pace with 1m 47.619, but was displaced by Esterson who went 0.040s quicker to head the order from Fornaroli and Meguetounif after opening laps.
Esterson’s time subsequently was deleted after he was adjudged to had breached track limits which elevated Fornaroli onto provisional pole from Megutounif and Voisin at the halfway mark.
Fornaroli continued to lead after the first laps of the second runs as he lowered the benchmark time to 1m 47.141 ahead of Beganovic and Meguetounif.
As the checkered flag fell, Beganovic snatched pole with 1m 46.431 ahead of Browning, Mini, Meguetounif, Ramos, Fornaroli, Tramnitz, Mansell, Lindblad, Esterson, Tsolov and Van Hoepen who inherited reverse pole for the Sprint.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 1m 46.431 |
| 2 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 0.167 |
| 3 | Gabriel Mini | PREMA | + 0.170 |
| 4 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 0.364 |
| 5 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 0.367 |
| 6 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.374 |
| 7 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.397 |
| 8 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 0.412 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 0.442 |
| 10 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 0.503 |
| 11 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.510 |
| 12 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.531 |
| 13 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.600 |
| 14 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 0.702 |
| 15 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 0.739 |
| 16 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 0.760 |
| 17 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 0.767 |
| 18 | Nikita Bedrin | PHM Racing | + 0.778 |
| 19 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 0.785 |
| 20 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 0.786 |
| 21 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 0.788 |
| 22 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 1.040 |
| 23 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | PHM Racing | + 1.304 |
| 24 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 1.314 |
| 25 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 1.381 |
| 26 | Joshua Dufek | PHM Racing | + 1.447 |
| 27 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.498 |
| 28 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 1.540 |
| 29 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 1.927 |
| 30 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 2.134 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Van Hoepen fought off Tsolov but his experienced Bulgarian teammate swept round the outside of Turn 1 to take the lead, whilst Esterson stayed third ahead of Tramnitz who jumped Lindblad but was repassed a lap later.
Further behind the frontrunners, Beganovi spun Ramos around in the opening corners which ruined both drivers’ races, with Beganovic hit by a 10s time penalty for causing the collision.
Up front, Tsolov fought off Van Hoepen despite briefly losing the lead at the start of Lap 4 whilst Lindblad cleared Esterson on Lap 9, before he got Van Hoepen five laps later into Turn 11 after the Dutch driver ran wide.
Red Bull junior, Lindblad proceeded to reel in Tsolov and made the race-winning overtake on Lap 16 into the first corner, having briefly gained the lead on the previous lap.
Tsolov soon struggled with his tyres and was passed by Van Hoepen a lap later followed by Fornaroli on the penultimate lap, as he settled for fourth ahead of Tramnitz, Esterson, Mini, Boya, Goethe and Megutounif.
Meguetounif however only inherited the final point after Browning was handed a controversial 10s time penalty for overtaking Mansell off the track at Turn 4 on Lap 6, despite having been forced wide by the ART GP driver – and dropped to 15th in the final classification.
Zagazeta meanwhile retired on Lap 16 after a collision with Tommy Smith which earned him a five-place grid drop for the Feature Race from 20th down to 25th on the grid, after he also received a 10s time penalty for gaining an advantage against Smith by running wide earlier in the race.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 19 | 35m 35.482 |
| 2 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 19 | + 5.478 |
| 3 | Leonardo FornarolI | Trident | 19 | + 5.514 |
| 4 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 19 | + 6.717 |
| 5 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 19 | + 6.927 |
| 6 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 19 | + 8.409 |
| 7 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 19 | + 8.413 |
| 8 | Mari Boya | Campos | 19 | + 9.183 |
| 9 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 19 | + 9.938 |
| 10 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 19 | + 11.245 |
| 11 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 19 | + 12.585 |
| 12 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 19 | + 13.082 |
| 13 | Nikita Bedrin | PHM Racing | 19 | + 14.987 |
| 14 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 19 | + 19.282 |
| 15 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 19 | + 19.513 |
| 16 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | PHM Racing | 19 | + 19.756 |
| 17 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 19 | + 21.166 |
| 18 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 19 | + 22.907 |
| 19 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 19 | + 24.629 |
| 20 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 19 | + 26.625 |
| 21 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 19 | + 27.349 |
| 22 | Noel Leon | VAR | 19 | + 30.135 |
| 23 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 19 | + 33.128 |
| 24 | Joshua Dufek | PHM Racing | 19 | + 37.819 |
| 25 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 19 | + 38.205 |
| 26 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 19 | + 40.079 |
| 27 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 19 | + 40.715 |
| 28 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 19 | + 60.473 |
| 29 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 19 | + 90.029 |
| 30 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 15 | Collision |
Feature Race
At lights out, Beganovic got a slow getaway which saw him plummet down the order whilst Browning sprinted clear as Meguetounif and Tramnitz improved to second and third from fourth and seventh on the grid respectively as Mini slipped to sixth.
Mansell meanwhile jumped up to fifth and quickly cleared Ramos, Tramnitz and Meguetounif into second by the end of Lap 5, yet found himself stuck behind Browning as a 12-car DRS train formed by the start of Lap 9.
Browning up front controlled the pace despite dealing with a loose exhaust which limited his pace, although he instead was able to resiliently defend from Mansell who managed to stay within DRS range of the Brit.
Mansell ultimately was unable to pass Browning who secured his maiden win and ensured that Hitech has won at least one race in six consecutive F3 seasons.
Tramnitz rounded out the podium after he made an inside move on Meguetounif on Lap 19 at the first corner, whilst Ramos, Mini, Fornaroli, Lindblad, Dunne and Goethe rounded out the top ten as Beganovic recovered to finish 13th.
Browning also sits atop of the drivers’ standings by just four points from Tramnitz as F3 now heads Down Under to Melbourne on the weekend of 22-24 March.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 22 | 41m 08.012 |
| 2 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 22 | + 1.264 |
| 3 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 22 | + 2.432 |
| 4 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 22 | + 5.654 |
| 5 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 22 | + 6.930 |
| 6 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 22 | + 8.200 |
| 7 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 22 | + 8.888 |
| 8 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 22 | + 9.542 |
| 9 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 22 | + 16.619 |
| 10 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 22 | + 17.032 |
| 11 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 22 | + 18.076 |
| 12 | Noel Leon | VAR | 22 | + 19.451 |
| 13 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 22 | + 20.021 |
| 14 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 22 | + 21.734 |
| 15 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 22 | + 22.676 |
| 16 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 22 | + 23.108 |
| 17 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 22 | + 23.679 |
| 18 | Nikita Bedrin | PHM Racing | 22 | + 29.902 |
| 19 | Matias Zagzeta | Jenzer | 22 | + 30.847 |
| 20 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | PHM Racing | 22 | + 34.409 |
| 21 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 22 | + 35.839 |
| 22 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 22 | + 37.465 |
| 23 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 22 | + 41.131 |
| 24 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 22 | + 42.347 |
| 25 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 22 | + 52.341 |
| 26 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 22 | + 53.921 |
| 27 | Joshua Dufek | PHM Racing | 22 | + 59.979 |
| 28 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 22 | + 63.836 |
| 29 | Mari Boya | Campos | 22 | + 88.231 |
| 30 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 21 | + 1 Lap |
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