Roundup of the fourth round of the 2024 F3 season in Monaco which delivered drama and a change of championship leader.
Leandro Fornaroli entered the round as championship leader but a weekend packed with red flags and drama saw eight different winners from the opening eight races, plus a change of title lead.
Now here is all the action from the fourth round of the 2024 F3 season.
Practice
Championship leader, Fornaroli was first out on track ahead of his Trident teammates – Sami Meguetounif and Santiago Ramos, with the Italian posting 1m 34.423 as the first representative benchmark time in the sixth minute.
Two minutes later, Fornaroli lowered his benchmark time to 1m 27.491 but PREMA’s Gabriele Mini went 0.400 seconds quicker just moments later.
Tasanapol Inthraphuvask however brought out the red flags a minute later after he crashed at Saint Devote.
The session resumed five minutes later but was red flagged three minutes later after Joseph Loake locked up at the same corner, only for his teammate – Callum Voisin to replicate Inthraphuvask and go into the barriers to cause a second stoppage.
Action resumed in the 22nd minute as rain began to fall which caught out Meguetounif who lost the rear on entry to Saint Devote and slid side-ways into the barrier to cause a third red flag and prevented further running as Mini ultimately topped a disrupted session from Fornaroli.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 1m 27.400 |
| 2 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.091 |
| 3 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 1.269 |
| 4 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 2.021 |
| 5 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 2.339 |
| 6 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 2.351 |
| 7 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 2.500 |
| 8 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 2.822 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 3.032 |
| 10 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 3.326 |
| 11 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 3.495 |
| 12 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 3.899 |
| 13 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 4.319 |
| 14 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 4.596 |
| 15 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 4.801 |
| 16 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 5.523 |
| 17 | James Hedley | Jenzer | + 5.831 |
| 18 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 6.125 |
| 19 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 6.880 |
| 20 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 7.362 |
| 21 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 8.375 |
| 22 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 8.561 |
| 23 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 9.615 |
| 24 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 10.360 |
| 25 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 10.653 |
| 26 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 11.183 |
| 27 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 12.531 |
| 28 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 13.019 |
| 29 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 14.283 |
| 30 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvask | AIX Racing | + 15.454 |
Qualifying
Qualifying Group A
Even-numbered cars were out on track in this opening group led by Fornaroli who posted 1m 25.963 as the initial representative benchmark time, which saw him head Browning and Leon after the opening flying laps were completed.
Browning however posted 1m 24.532 then lowered his benchmark time by 0.302s in his next two fliers to 1m 24.230 and looked set for provisional pole position.
The Brit however hit the wall on his final lap at the exit of the swimming pool chicane to ruin his hopes of pole as Mini produced 1m 23.942 to snatch provisional pole with the fastest Group A time.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 1m 23.942 |
| 2 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 0.288 |
| 3 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.353 |
| 4 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 0.845 |
| 5 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.859 |
| 6 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.989 |
| 7 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 1.119 |
| 8 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 1.615 |
| 9 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 1.648 |
| 10 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.788 |
| 11 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 1.900 |
| 12 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 2.053 |
| 13 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 2.182 |
| 14 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvask | AIX Racing | + 2.374 |
| 15 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 2.420 |
Qualifying Group B
Meguetounif led the Group B runners out but the session was red flagged in the seventh minute after Hedley crashed at St. Devote.
The session resumed four minutes later with Meguetounif first back on track and he set 1m 26.098 as a benchmark time, only for Beganovic to go top on 1m 25.569 from Mansell and Tramnitz.
Mansell however went top with 1m 24.921 from Lindblad and Beganovic on the second round of fliers which proved enough to top the group, after Wurz and Montoya crashed at St Devote in the final minute to bring the red flag back out just as Beganovic was about to go fastest.
Mansell’s lap time however wasn’t enough to beat Mini’s lap time which meant that the Italian took pole with his Group A opposition lined up behind him on the odd-numbered side of the grid.
Mansell meanwhile would start second with his Group B opposition lined up behind him in the even-numbered grid slots, which meant that Tsolov inherited reverse pole for the Sprint.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 1m 24.921 |
| 2 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 0.019 |
| 3 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 0.157 |
| 4 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 0.522 |
| 5 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.603 |
| 6 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | + 0.627 |
| 7 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 0.653 |
| 8 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 0.723 |
| 9 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 0.753 |
| 10 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 1.071 |
| 11 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 1.128 |
| 12 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 1.148 |
| 13 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 1.181 |
| 14 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 1.673 |
| 15 | James Hedley | Jenzer | + 35.383 |
Sprint Race
Nikola Tsolov made a clean start to retain his lead as Tramnitz passed Van Hoepen for second ahead of Leon, Loake and Boya whilst Beganovic leapt up to seventh after an incident at Casino Square.
Mansell spun Lindblad mid-corner which led to frantic evasive action but Dufek got squeezed into Lindblad, whilst Dunne and Shields were also collected in the melee which saw the safety car initially deployed followed by a red flag a lap later.
The race resumed behind the safety car after a 23 minute delay as the top ten held position until the checkered flag, despite the safety car being deployed on Lap 13 after Sztuka stopped at pit exit with a puncture following contact from Floersch.
Floersch subsequently retired with damage so was handed a five-place grid penalty for the Feature Race, which meant that she started 23rd on the grid.
Tsolov eventually survived an investigation into suspected weaving under the safety car to become the first Bulgarian to take victory in F3 ahead of Tramnitz who fought off Van Hoepen and Leon for second.
Loake scored Rodin’s first points of the season with a fifth-placed finish in front of Boya, Beganovic, Browning, Fornaroli and Goethe.
Post-race, Hedley was handed a 5s time penalty for failing to stay above the minimum time delta during the safety car procedure, but he stayed in 20th position despite the time penalty.
Fornaroli still led the standings ahead of Browning albeit with a points lead slightly reduced to just two points, whilst Beganovic sits third behind the pair.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 23 | 59m 09.511 |
| 2 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 4.328 |
| 3 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 23 | + 5.173 |
| 4 | Noel Leon | VAR | 23 | + 5.310 |
| 5 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 23 | + 6.489 |
| 6 | Mari Boya | Campos | 23 | + 6.891 |
| 7 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 23 | + 7.732 |
| 8 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 23 | + 12.658 |
| 9 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 23 | + 12.971 |
| 10 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 23 | + 14.964 |
| 11 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 23 | + 15.337 |
| 12 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 23 | + 19.472 |
| 13 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 23 | + 20.161 |
| 14 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 23 | + 24.341 |
| 15 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 23 | + 24.747 |
| 16 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 23 | + 25.093 |
| 17 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvask | AIX Racing | 23 | + 27.444 |
| 18 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 23 | + 28.335 |
| 19 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 23 | + 29.068 |
| 20 | James Hedley | Jenzer | 23 | + 43.344 |
| 21 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 23 | + 46.393 |
| 22 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 20 | + 3 Laps |
| 23 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 16 | Mechanical |
| 24 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 14 | Collision |
| 25 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 12 | Puncture |
| 26 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 0 | Collision |
| 27 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 0 | Collision |
| 28 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 0 | Collision |
| 29 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 0 | Collision |
| 30 | Cian Shields | Hitch GP | 0 | Collision |
Feature Race
At lights out, Mini fought off Mansell to keep his lead as the top eight held position whilst Tramnitz jumped Leon for ninth.
Further back, Wurz made contact with Wisnicki at Portier which saw the Austrian spun out and the safety car deployed for two laps, whilst Wisnicki was handed a 10s time penalty.
Up front, Mini survived waves of pressure from Mansell to open an one-second gap come the end of Lap 14, whilst Loake passed Boya on the inside of Racasse on Lap 6.
Loake however locked up at Nouvelle chicane on Lap 13 and cut the corner which forced him to return seventh position to Boya at the start of Lap 15, purely to avoid any potential penalty.
Van Hoepen meanwhile passed Leon on that same lap for 10th position which left the Mexican vulnerable to Tsolov who spun him at Mirabeau on Lap 20 with Meguetounif sent into the barriers as he attempted to take avoiding action and brought the safety car out for two laps.
Racing resumed on Lap 23 with Mini heading Mansell whilst Tramnitz passed Loake at Lowes Hairpin for eighth, which left the Brit battling Van Hoepen who got punted into the barriers at Tabac as he attempted an outside move on Loake.
Racing resumed on the final lap but Mini clung on to take victory to go top of the drivers’ standings with his second straight Feature Race win around the streets of the Principality.
Mansell and Browning rounded out the podium ahead of Lindblad, Fornaroli, Beganovic, Boya, Tramnitz, Loake and Goethe.
Mini sits top on 72 points with a five-point lead over Browning as Fornaroli dropped to third in the standings.
F3 will return on weekend of 21-23 June at Barcelona, Spain, for the first of a triple-header followed by Austria and Great Britain.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 27 | 44m 15.883 |
| 2 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 27 | + 0.802 |
| 3 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 27 | + 1.720 |
| 4 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 27 | + 2.197 |
| 5 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 27 | + 2.667 |
| 6 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 27 | + 3.094 |
| 7 | Mari Boya | Campos | 27 | + 4.889 |
| 8 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 27 | + 5.249 |
| 9 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 27 | + 6.602 |
| 10 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 27 | + 8.007 |
| 11 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 27 | + 8.469 |
| 12 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 27 | + 8.959 |
| 13 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 27 | + 9.326 |
| 14 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 27 | + 10.963 |
| 15 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 27 | + 11.379 |
| 16 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 27 | + 12.002 |
| 17 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 27 | + 12.409 |
| 18 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvask | AIX Racing | 27 | + 13.443 |
| 19 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 27 | + 13.623 |
| 20 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 27 | + 14.069 |
| 21 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 27 | + 15.201 |
| 22 | James Hedley | Jenzer | 27 | + 15.941 |
| 23 | Noel Leon | VAR | 27 | + 17.360 |
| 24 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 27 | + 17.575 |
| 25 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 27 | + 20.640 |
| 26 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 27 | + 26.465 |
| 27 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 27 | + 28.566 |
| RET | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 22 | Collision |
| RET | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 19 | Crash |
| RET | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 0 | Collision |
Leave a Reply