This past weekend Formula 3 took the track at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza for the final chapter of the 2024 Championship. The culmination of the past nine rounds meant that there were 7 drivers in contention for the Drivers’ Championship title.

Oliver Goethe was set to be one of the drivers involved in the fight for the title, however it was announced before the race weekend started that he would be making the step up to Formula 2 with MP Motorsport to replace Franco Colapinto – the Argentine driver was set to replace Logan Sargeant in Formula 1 for Williams Racing for the rest of the season – meaning Goethe would now be unable to take any further part in the Championship battle.

Campos Racing in turn announced that Noah Stromsted would fill in for the final round of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 season, having previous experience with the team in the Spanish F4 Championship – where in 2023 he achieved several podiums across the campaign.

Qualifying:

Monza’s qualifying session was set to look different from the rest of the season, with the grid being split into two groups similar to what happens in Monaco – although qualifying around the Principality occurs in two groups due to narrowness of the track posing issues for the 30-strong grid.

The new format for Monza would feature two groups of 15 cars each in an attempt to avoid traffic building up due to drivers being unwilling to give rivals a tow down the long flat-out sections of the track.

Group A:

Within Group A, the even-number cars lined-up to take to the track first, with this respective group including the top three in the Drivers’ Championship.

With the session getting the green flag, Max Esterson was the only driver to have clocked a time on the board with an out lap of 2:10.419. As the clock continued to tick down, drivers made their way out onto the track, however none set any representative lap times as longer and slower queues developed with drivers unwilling to be the first driver to attempt a push-lap and give their rivals an advantage around the track.

Whilst attempting to set a qualifying time, Kacper Sztuka and Laurens van Hoepen made contact. MP Motorsport’s Sztuka slowed down on his approach to the rear of the pack, however, remained on the racing line, leaving Van Hoepen – who was following close behind – with little-to-no time to react.

Whilst both cars were able to continue around the track and make their way back to the pits, the debris left on track resulted in the session being red flagged, with Sztuka suffering a puncture and damage to the left-rear corner of his car, while Van Hoepen sustained damage to the front-left suspension and the nosecone of his ART Grand Prix.

The session resumed with just over five minutes to go with the rest of the group quickly making their way back out onto the circuit. 

Esterson set the first flying lap with a time of 1:40.558, but the lack of a tow meant his time was quickly beaten. Luke Browning went quicker, before being bettered by Mari Boya and Joshua Dufek – the latter taking the provisional top spot of the group with a time of 1:38.832.

At the end of the first round of flying laps, the Championship leader Fornaroli sat in seventh place with his best time around seven-tenths down on that of Dufek.

Taking to the track to complete his final attempt, Fornaroli clocked a 1:38.287, taking the chequered flag in the top spot, ahead of fellow title rival Gabriele Mini in second and Trident teammate Santiago Ramos in P3.

Group B:

The second group for qualifying consisted of the odd-numbered half of the grid, mirroring the previous drivers in waiting before going out on track for their first attempts.

The ART Grand Prix duo of Nikola Tsolov and Christian Mansell were the first to take to the circuit, with the rest of the group quickly following the pair out of the pitlane.

Mansell had overtake his teammate, although backed off again in the hopes of gaining a tow, although no one seemed willing to give. The Australian then started his first attempt before once again backing off with others following his tactics in what seemed to be a game of cat and mouse.

Martinius Stenshorne continued his respective flying lap, recording the first time to beat with a 1:39.273. His time was quickly topped by fellow McLaren Development driver Alex Dunne, the Briton going provisionally quickest in Group B with a time of 1:38.818.

After a series of final flying lap attempts, nobody could clock a time to beat the MP Motorsport driver, with Sami Meguetounif and Sebastian Montoya being the closest in P2 and P3 respectively.

When the results of the two sessions were combined, Fornaroli topped the timing, taking pole position for the Feature Race, ahead of Dunne, Mini, Meguetounif and Ramos. Tim Tramnitz slotted into twelfth place to take the reverse-grid pole position for the Sprint Race.

Post-Session Penalties:

A total of 14 drivers received penalties following the conclusion of the qualifying session – one driver short of 2019’s result of 15 drivers penalised after the Monza qualifying session.

• Kacper Sztuka – five-place grid penalty and 3 penalty points (collision with Van Heopen)
• Christian Mansell – three-place grid penalty for impeding
• Nikola Tsolov – three-place grid penalty for impeding
• Gabriele Mini – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Leonardo Fornaroli – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Noah Stromsted – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Mari Boya – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Luke Browning – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Max Esterson – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Noel Leon – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Joshua Dufek – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Piotr Wisnicki – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly
• Tommy Smith – four-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly

Sprint Race:

Whilst the grid waited for the lights to go out to start Saturday’s Sprint Race, Christian Mansell who was in contention for the title, radioed the team to say that his ART Grand Prix car was stuck in third gear.

This meant that a second formation lap was required, with the grid making their way around the track for another lap, in which time the Australian driver was able to get underway as well, although he would now be set to start the race from the pitlane as punishment for causing the delay to the race start.

With the green flag waving at the rear of the grid and all five lights out, reverse-grid pole-sitter Tramnitz got a good start off the line to cover off Beganovic on the run up to Turn 1, before battling wheel-to-wheel with Montoya – who had skipped over Turn 2 before returning to the track in second place after already passing Beganovic before the first corner.

The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 2 as a result of Noel Leon and Nikita Bedrin getting stuck in the gravel after making contact with Tommy Smith at Turn 2, with marshals needed to recover the cars.

Racing resumed at the start of Lap 6 with Montoya quickly under pressure from Beganovic thanks to a large snap of oversteer through Parabolica, with the Columbiand holding onto second place into the first chicane.

Joseph Loake and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak both took their own trip into the gravel at Turn 4, allowing Championship rivals Lindblad and Fornaroli to move up into the points in ninth and tenth place respectively.

Fornaroli quickly made his way past Lindblad with the help of DRS on the run up to Ascari to take ninth place. On Lap 9 the Italian again utilised the DRS to place himself in the top 8 after making a move on Martinius Stenshorne, whilst Trident teammate Ramos made his own moves on Beganovic to move into the podiums places before passing Montoya through the Curva Grande to take second place.

Montoya stayed close behind Ramos and re-took second place going into the first corner on Lap 12, whilst the third Trident car of Sami Meguetounif was able to take fourth from Beganovic at the same corner.

The second Safety Car came in the last couple of laps of the race as a result of a collision between Max Esterson and Piotr Wisnicki at the first chicane which left both drivers out of the running. Both drivers reported they were okay, however the marshals were needed to recover both the cars from the track.

A final lap shootout was decided as the Safety Car was withdrawn, with Tramnitz retaining the lead of the race and eventually crossing the line to take victory ahead of Montoya and Ramos, whilst Dunne and Beganovic rounded out the top five.

Megeutounif finished in sixth place, ahead of Browning in seventh, whilst Mari Boya fell down to eighth in the final lap after a mistake caused the Spaniard to run through the gravel at Ascari.

Title rivals Fornaroli and Mini rounded out the points, meaning the fight for the Championship would go down to a final showdown on the Sunday.

Post-Race Penalties:

• Podium-finished Sebastian Montoya was handed a 5-second time penalty after being judged to have forced Santiago Ramos off the track. He dropped from second in the classification down to 11th. As a result, Ramos was promoted to second, Alex Dunne to third place with all the other drivers down to Martinius Stenshorne moving up a place.
• Cian Shields received a 5-second time penalty for causing a collision with Callum Voisin, dropping him from 18th to 20th in the results.
• Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak received a 10-second time penalty for overtaking under Safety Car conditions, dropping him from 19th to 21st.
• Christian Mansell received a 5-second time penalty for causing a collision with Sophia Floersch, he remained in 22nd in the classification.
• Noel Leon received a 10-place grid penalty for causing a collision with Nikola Tsolov, it was converted into a five-place grid drop at the next race he competes in due to not being classified in the Sprint Race results.

Feature Race:

Pole-sitter Leonardo Fornaroli got a good launch off the line to cover Alex Dunne and retain his lead going into the first chicane, with the pair followed closely by Mini in third place.

Heading into Parabolica, Dunne made a move for the lead of the race down the inside of the Championship leader, whilst just behind, Sami Meguetounif moved into third place after utilising a slipstream to pass Mini going into Turn 1 on Lap 2.

The first Safety Car of the race came as a result of a series of events going into the first set of corners. Whilst battling into Ascari, Browning spun on the entry into the corner. Several other drivers then made contact in a secondary incident with Cian Shields, Sophia Floersch and Matias Zagazeta all retiring from the race due to damage sustained to their respective cars.Browning was able to continue after his spin, however was left down in 26th place after having to make a pitstop.

Racing resumed at the start of Lap 7 with Dunne holding onto the lead of the race ahead of Fornaroli, whilst title rival Mini dropped down into fifth place after Christian Mansell made a pass stick heading into the first corner.

Whilst battling for the lead of the race heading into Ascari, Fornaroli went wide mid-way through the corner before making his way through the gravel, dropping him down into fifth place behind Mini.

Mini experienced his own trip into the gravel on Lap 8 at the first Lesmo, allowing Fornaroli to pass him heading into Ascari. Up ahead, the lead of the race changed hands once again as Meguetounif passed Dunne at Turn 1 under braking on Lap 10. Dunne dropped further down the order after conceding second place to Mansell at the Roggia chicane.

On Lap 15, Fornaroli made a pass on Dunne using DRS to take third place at Turn 1 and place a car between himself and Mini. However, the PREMA Racing driver was abe to pass Dunne on the following lap to move into fourth place and keep Fornaroli in his sights.

Fornaroli made another charge and gained another place on Lap 18, this time taking P2 on the road from Mansell at Turn 1 despite locking up, with Mini mirroring his actions later on in the lap at Ascari to remain within a second of the Championship leader.

Onto the penultimate lap and Gabriele Mini was working hard to break the tow to Mansell behind. Fornaroli was close behind the ART Grand Prix car out of the first chicane and whilst trying to make a move under braking, skipped across the second chicane, which forced him to hand the position back.

Meguetounif had clear air of any drama out in front to take the chequered flag and his second win in Formula 3 ahead of Gabriele Mini in second place. A lunge on the final corner of the circuit allowed Fornaroli to clear Mansell and take P3 at the line and confirm himself as Champion for the 2024 season – despite not winning a single race.

Dunne took fifth ahead of Martinius Stenshorne, Tim Tramnitz, Noel Leon, Laurens van Hoepen and Arvid Lindblad, who rounded out the top 10.

Post-Race Penalties:

• Gabriele Mini was disqualified from the Feature Race after his car failed to meet the minimum requirements with regards to its tyre pressures. This in-turn promoted Leonardo Fornaroli to second and Christian Mansell to third.
• Luke Browning received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Joseph Loake. This penalty came in addition to a 5-second time penalty received during the race, dropping him from 13th down to 20th in the classification.
• Max Esterson received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision with Noel Leon.
• Noah Stromsted received a 10-second time penalty for his involvement in an incident with Tommy Smith.

Championship Conclusion:

After a last lap lunge at the final race of the season, Leonardo Fornaroli became the first Italian pilot to win the FIA Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship. He concluded the season on 150 points, only two ahead of Gabriele in second. Luke Browning took third place on 128 points ahead of Arvid Lindblad in fourth on 113 and Christian Mansell in fifth on 109 points.

PREMA Racing took the Teams’ Championship title for the fifth consecutive year on 369 points. Trident finished second ahead of ART Grand Prix on 278 and 240 points respectively. Campos Racing finished the 2024 season in fourth on 179 points, with Hitech Pulse-Eight rounding out the top five with 164 points.