Roundup of the penultimate round of the 2024 F3 Season in Belgium, packed with twists in the title race.
PREMA’s Gabriele Mini arrived in Spa Francorchamps seeking a chance to wrap up the title, but weather and penalties left the title fight finely poised heading to the final round with a winless driver sat on the summit.
Practice
Van Amersfoort Racing’ (VAR) Tommy Smith was first out onto the wet track following early-morning race, and set 2m 23.229 as the benchmark time in the sixth minute.
Browning however soon set the initial pace and twice lowered his benchmark time by the halfway mark to 2m 21.310 to head ART GP’s Christian Mansell by 0.070 seconds.
Drivers soon switched to the slick tyres with Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli the first driver to make that move, only to pit at the end of his outlap but everyone was out on track on the slick tyres with six minutes left.
MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne was the first driver to go fastest on the slick tyres with 2m 20.474, but times soon tumbled and in the final minute, Browning posted 2m 15.570 to top the session from Noel Leon by 0.030s.
At the checkered flag, Santiago Ramos and Sami Meguetounif both stopped at the Bus Stop chicane, following separate incidents.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 2m 15.570 |
| 2 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.030 |
| 3 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 0.372 |
| 4 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 0.452 |
| 5 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 0.565 |
| 6 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.639 |
| 7 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 0.640 |
| 8 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.792 |
| 9 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.833 |
| 10 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 1.150 |
| 11 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 1.191 |
| 12 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | + 1.399 |
| 13 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 1.528 |
| 14 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 1.996 |
| 15 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | + 2.022 |
| 16 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | + 2.049 |
| 17 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 2.159 |
| 18 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 2.460 |
| 19 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 2.545 |
| 20 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 2.586 |
| 21 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 2.687 |
| 22 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 2.739 |
| 23 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 2.844 |
| 24 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 3.825 |
| 25 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 3.909 |
| 26 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 4.343 |
| 27 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 4.420 |
| 28 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 5.009 |
| 29 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 6.517 |
| 30 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 7.752 |
Qualifying
Leon and Floersch were first out on track for Qualifying which was much drier than Practice, although it was Browning who set the benchmark time of 2m 06.465 in the sixth minute.
Leon two minutes later posted 2m 06.104 to go top but he and Dunne – who beat his lap time with 2m 05.900 – saw their lap times deleted due to track limits violations.
Van Hoepen subsequently sat top after the first runs with 2m 05.507 ahead of Mansell by 0.011s.
Leon however displaced the ART GP pair in the 26th minute with 2m 04.545 but his lap was bettered a minute later, as Voisin posted 2m 04.321 to claim his maiden pole position from Dunne.
Fornaroli boosted his title chances by qualifying third ahead of Montoya, Leon, Esterson, Browning, Meguetounif, Tramnitz, Ramos, Mini and Beganovic – who took reverse pole for the Sprint.
Title challenger, Lindblad only qualified 27th after his fastest lap was deleted due to exceeding track limits.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 2m 04.321 |
| 2 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | + 0.123 |
| 3 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | + 0.132 |
| 4 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | + 0.200 |
| 5 | Noel Leon | VAR | + 0.224 |
| 6 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | + 0.224 |
| 7 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | + 0.252 |
| 8 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | + 0.296 |
| 9 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.299 |
| 10 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | + 0.308 |
| 11 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | + 0.339 |
| 12 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | + 0.415 |
| 13 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | + 0.437 |
| 14 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | + 0.439 |
| 15 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.579 |
| 16 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | + 0.579 |
| 17 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | + 0.696 |
| 18 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | + 0.911 |
| 19 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | + 1.023 |
| 20 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | + 1.027 |
| 21 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 1.057 |
| 22 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 1.181 |
| 23 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | + 1.190 |
| 24 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | + 1.311 |
| 25 | Tommy Smith | VAR | + 1.458 |
| 26 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | + 1.669 |
| 27 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | + 1.813 |
| 28 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | + 1.927 |
| 29 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | + 1.976 |
| 30 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | + 1.987 |
Sprint Race
At lights out on a damp track, Beganovic lost the lead to Mini but held onto second ahead of Ramos, Tramnitz and Browning, but the safety car was deployed after Esterson spun out at Raidillon.
Racing resumed on Lap 4 but Mini ran wide through Eau Rouge and Raidillon which allowed Beganovic to slip-stream him on the Kemmel Straight, and sweep round the outside of Les Combes to retake the lead.
Browning meanwhile lost momentum on the restart which cost him three positions as Leon, Montoya and Meguetounif demoted him to eighth by the end of Lap 6.
Meguetounif however cut Les Combes when he overtook Browning for seventh on Lap 6 albeit with the Brit also running wide, which stewards ultimately deemed to be a racing incident rather than Browning deliberately forcing the Frenchman off track.
Up front, Mini kept Beganovic within DRS range until the checkered flag but fought off Tramnitz, who fell into the clutches of Leon after the Mexican cleared Ramos on Lap 9.
Beganovic ultimately took victory from Mini and Leon whilst Tramnitz settled for fourth on the road ahead of Ramos, who saw off Meguetounif and Browning as the pair demoted Montoya to eighth at the final corner.
Fornaroli and Goethe completed the top ten before Meguetounif had a 10s time penalty applied, which dropped him to 26th position and handed Voisin the final point in tenth position.
Post-race, multiple time penalties were dished out for breaches of track limits, as Ramos and Fornaroli dropped to eighth and ninth due to 5s penalties for exceeding the track limits on four occasions
Stenshorne and Wurz were too handed the same penalty which left them classified 18th and 29th respectively.
Browning, Dunne, Smith and Inthraphuvasak received additional 10s total time penalties for exceeding track limits on five occasions, with Browning demoted from sixth to 12th as a consequence.
Dunne and Smith were classified 23rd and 25th, whilst Inthraphuvasak finished as the last classified finisher in 29th position.
Boya meanwhile exceeded track limits on eight occasions and consequently was hit with a 25s time penalty, which dropped him to 28th in the classification.
Mini consequently extended his title lead over Browning to 13 points, whilst Fornaroli moved up to third and sandwiched Browning and Lindblad with the trip split by just two points.
Beganovic’s win moved him up to fifth but he still is an outsider for the title given his 28-point deficit with three races left in the season.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 12 | 29m 03.659 |
| 2 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 12 | + 1.131 |
| 3 | Noel Leon | VAR | 12 | + 2.872 |
| 4 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 12 | + 5.800 |
| 5 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 12 | + 6.815 |
| 6 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 12 | + 7.237 |
| 7 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 12 | + 7.894 |
| 8 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 12 | + 11.049 |
| 9 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 12 | + 11.937 |
| 10 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 12 | + 14.837 |
| 11 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 12 | + 15.976 |
| 12 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 12 | + 16.812 |
| 13 | Nikita Bedrin | Jenzer | 12 | + 16.943 |
| 14 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | 12 | + 18.384 |
| 15 | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 12 | + 20.370 |
| 16 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 12 | + 22.066 |
| 17 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 12 | + 22.454 |
| 18 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 12 | + 22.870 |
| 19 | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 12 | + 24.773 |
| 20 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 12 | + 25.416 |
| 21 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 12 | + 25.974 |
| 22 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 12 | + 26.347 |
| 23 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 12 | + 27.700 |
| 24 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 12 | + 28.283 |
| 25 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 12 | + 30.721 |
| 26 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 12 | + 32.293 |
| 27 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 12 | + 36.669 |
| 28 | Mari Boya | Campos | 12 | + 49.234 |
| 29 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | 12 | + 52.996 |
| RET | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 0 | Spin |
Feature Race
At lights out on a damp circuit following overnight rain, Voisin kept the lead as Montoya jumped from fourth to second ahead of Fornaroli and Dunne, whilst Meguetounif made up two positions to sixth ahead of Esterson and Browning.
Further back in the mid-pack, Goethe suffered a puncture following a collision with Mini at La Source, which spun the Italian around.
Meguetounif and Browning cleared Leon and Esterson for fifth and seventh respectively on Lap 2, just before the safety car was deployed following a collision between Stenshorne and Taponen as the pair tangled following separate spins.
Racing resumed on Lap 7 and Meguetounif quickly cleared Dunne on the Kemmel Straight for fourth, but the safety car was again deployed after Floersch spun out at Bruxelles following contact with Loake.
Racing resumed on Lap 10 with the top three in position but Dunne briefly lost power and dropped to tenth on the run to Eau Rouge.
The safety car was once again deployed after Mansell spun Lindblad out at Bruxelles, whilst Boya crashed at Turn 11 due to a rear puncture from Wurz.
Racing resumed on Lap 14 but Voisin saw out the last two laps to take his maiden F3 win from Montoya and Fornaroli, who saw off a late push from Leon after the Mexican passed Meguetounif for fourth on the restart on the Kemmel Straight.
Browning finished sixth ahead of Esterson, Ramos, Tramnitz and Dunne.
Fornaroli’s third-placed finish put him into the title lead by one point from Mini with Browning a further six points back, whilst Lindblad, Beganovic, Mansell and Goethe are mathematical outsiders going to the season finale.
ART GP’s failure to score points meant that PREMA were crowned teams’ champions with a round to spare, despite failing to score points themselves.
F3 now will go on a summer break ahead of the blockbuster final round of the season, which is scheduled for 30 August – 1 September.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 15 | 41m 33.717 |
| 2 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos | 15 | + 0.915 |
| 3 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 15 | + 1.662 |
| 4 | Noel Leon | VAR | 15 | + 2.191 |
| 5 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 15 | + 2.871 |
| 6 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 15 | + 3.229 |
| 7 | Max Esterson | Jenzer | 15 | + 3.604 |
| 8 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 15 | +4.088 |
| 9 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 15 | + 4.852 |
| 10 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 15 | + 5.345 |
| 11 | Dino Beganovic | PREMA | 15 | + 6.600 |
| 12 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 15 | + 7.271 |
| 13 | Gabriele Mini | PREMA | 15 | + 8.133 |
| 14 | Christian Mansell | ART GP | 15 | + 8.380 |
| 15 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 15 | + 9.522 |
| 16 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin | 15 | + 10.339 |
| 17 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | 15 | + 10.686 |
| 18 | Tommy Smith | VAR | 15 | + 11.129 |
| 19 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer | 15 | + 12.148 |
| 20 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 15 | + 12.796 |
| 21 | Oliver Goethe | Campos | 15 | + 13.274 |
| 22 | Joseph Loake | Rodin | 15 | + 14.758 |
| 23 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 15 | + 17.763 |
| 24 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 15 | + 19.997 |
| 25 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer | 15 | + 20.236 |
| RET | Arvid Lindblad | PREMA | 9 | Spin |
| RET | Mari Boya | Campos | 9 | Puncture |
| RET | Sophia Floersch | VAR | 6 | Spin |
| RET | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 1 | Spin |
| RET | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | 1 | Spin |
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