Alpine Academy and Prema racer Gabriele Mini won a action-packed Formula 3 feature race around the streets of Monte Carlo, Monaco on Grand Prix Sunday.

Mini won ahead of ART's Christian Mansell and Luke Browning, who completed the podium, in a crazy race which saw three safety cars.

The Italian driver has taken the championship lead with victory in Monaco for the second year in a row in FIA Formula 3.

Mini's fellow countryman Leonardo Fornaroli led the championship coming into the feature race. 

Formula 3 had already produced a fantastic amount of action with a crazy Saturday sprint race, as the teams and drivers were preparing for the 27 lap feature race.


Nikola Tsolov would take a historic win in the sprint, ahead of Tim Tramnitz and Laurens Van Hopen who joined the Bulgarian on the podium. Tsolov had become the first Bulgarian to get a podium in Formula 3.

Gabriele Mini, fellow Alpine Academy driver, would take pole position for the feature race, like he did in 2023, across a grouped qualifying session. He would have Christian Mansell joining him on the front row with Luke Browning third on the grid.
30 cars on the grid and the lights went out Mini would get away from pole position and cover off the challenge from Christtian Mansell as they all got around Saint-Devote unscathed. They were all trying to avoid each other and prevent a multiple-car collision like yesterday.

However, green flag racing would not be for much longer as the safety car would be introduced. Piotr Wisnicki and Charlie Wurz made contact at turn eight, which sent the Jenzer car into the wall.

A short delay for while the car was moved and at the start of lap 3, racing would get back underway. As the race got back going again, Mini managed to fend off Mansell at the restart to keep the race lead..The two would be pretty close to one another as on the following lap Mansell would have DRS on leader Mini.

After diving to the inside of turn 6 on MP Motorsport's Kacper Sztuka and making small contact with sprint race winner Nikola Tsolov, Nikita Bedrin was forced to pit with a puncture continuing a dreadful weekend for the Italian AIX driver.

Lap 6 and Joseph Loake, with his best every qualifying and first ever points in Formula 3 across the weekend, would have started to take a liking to the narrow streets of Monte Carlo. He showed no fear and made a slick overtake into Rascasse on Mari Boya in the Campos. for seventh. 

Onto lap 10 and Mansell began to put some pressure on Mini, the gap had come within a second.

Loake was showing great pace but after flat-spotting his tyres at the Nouvelle Chicane, this put him on the back foot and under pressure on lap 13. By lap 15, he had been passed by Boya and was back down to eighth place.

10-second penalty would be awarded to Martinius Stenshorne for leaving track and gaining an advantage. The McLaren junior driver was not having an enjoyable weekend.

Laurens Van Hoepen of ART made a lovely move at Mirabeau on Noel Leon. A good pass from Saturday's podium finisher.

Mini would still have a decent sized gap over Mansell as the safety car would be deployed due to an incident at Mirabeau involving NIkola Tsolov, Noel Leon and Sami Meguetounif.

Tsolov hopelessly sent a desperate move to the inside of the corner and put both drivers into the barriers as Meguetounif was unaware of what was around the corner and pulled left and brushed the wall next to the other two cars. Tsolov would be handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

Tsolov and Leon continued on while Meguetounif was out as he could not get going again.

End of lap 22 and the safety car returned to the pit lane and Mini got the race back underway and maintained the lead. Green flag racing conditions would not last for long as the safety car would be back out in no time at all.

Van Hoepen and Loake were battling out through the Nouvelle Chicane and Tabac but Van Hoepen, unassisted, ran into the wall and was forced to retire from the race with his rear wing and rear suspension significantly damaged.

Once everything was cleared, there would be a one lap shootout to the flag. Mini bolted well and streaked clear of Mansell and looked to have it covered. He made it eight different winners in eight races so far in Formula 3 in 2024. A fantastic look for the series to show how tight it is.

With the victory, for the first time in 2024, Gabriele Mini takes the championship lead off Leonardo Fornaroli, who dropped to third. Browning maintains second position in the standings.

Mini won from pole to flag again, like he did in 2023. Christian Mansell came home in second for ART, making it all three ART drivers to have had one podium and one retirement from the Monaco races, with Van Hoepen and Tsolov getting a podium in the sprint and Mansell retiring.

Luke Browning kept up his consistency with a third place finish in the feature race ahead of Arvid Lindblad, who came home in a very decent fourth place for Prema. Former championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli was fifth ahead of the other Prema of Dino Beganovic who was sixth.

Mari Boya was seventh for Campos ahead of Tim Tramnitz, Joseph Loake and Oliver Goethe who completed the top 10.

Gabriele Mini, the Alpine Academy driver had a fantastic weekend of things. He topped Thursday practice, pole on Friday in qualifying and winner now on Sunday in the feature race and for extra measure he leaves Monte Carlo with the Formula 3 championship lead. Mini has a four point lead over second placed Browning with 29 points separating the top seven in the championship.

Where will the championship tide turn next? Find out when Formula 3 heads to Barcelona between June 21-23.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - f1journal.co.uk

 Alpine Academy and Van Amersfoort racer Sophia Floersch and Jenzer Motorsport debut racer James Hedley have been handed post-race penalties by the Stewards.

Floersch has been handed a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision in the race that caused her and Kacper Sztuka, who she made contact with, to retire from the race.

Whereas Hedley received a five-second time penalty for failing to stay above the minimum time limit under a safety car procedure.

​Both went to see the Stewards after a crazy sprint race, which saw Nikola Tsolov win for the first time in Formula 3.

Floersch got involved in a collision with Sztuka at the final corner of lap 13, where Sztuka picked up a puncture and Floersch's front wing ended underneath her car. Sztuka would retire from the race at Saint-Devote with a puncture.

Whereas, Floersch would retire in the pit lane shortly after.

After reviewing the incident, the Stewards decided that Floersch was predominantly to blame for the incident and as she retired, she was unable to serve a fair and just punishment. The Stewards would implement a five-place grid drop on Sophia for the feature race in Monaco on Sunday. 

Sophia would also have two penalty points added to her record.
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Fresh from GB3, in place of Matias Zagazeta who had his appendix removed, James Hedley would have been hoping for a nicer debut weekend than what had happened thus far.

A crash in qualifying, a penalty for speeding in the pit lane in the race and a post-race penalty would just rub more salt in the wounds. Hedley would receive a five-second time penalty from the Stewards for failing to hit the minimum time under a safety car. 

This therefore, the Stewards would pick up on, and it would land the 19-year old Brit in hot water. A five-second time penalty would be added to his race time, which would end him 20th. Piotr Wisnicki the only driver below him in the classified list - who completed all 23 laps.

Hedley would be hoping for a better Sunday, while Floresch will already be starting with a disadvantage from what she would have been for the feature race.

The feature race will get under way in Monte Carlo on Sunday morning with Gabriele Mini, Alpine Academy driver on pole position.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - f1journal.co.uk

ART's Alpine Academy driver Nikola Tsolov made history on the streets of Monte Carlo to take his first win in FIA Formula 3, in Saturday's sprint race.

Tsolov became the first Bulgarian driver in GP3 and Formula 3 history to stand on a podium in the category. He finished four seconds ahead of Mp Motorsport's Tim Tramnitz who was second. Tsolov's ART teammate Laurens Van Hoepen was third to complete the podium.

The race saw a red flag at the start, which saw five drivers retire and by the chequered flag, nine drivers failed to make it.

Italian Leonardo Fornaroli, the championship leader, finished ninth for Trident.

FIA Formula 3 would race in Monaco for just the second time since its birth in 2019 and last year it produced two race winners. Josep Maria Marti won the sprint race, while Gabriele Mini would win the Sunday feature race after he started from pole position.

​The Alpine Academy driver would repeat his 2023 qualifying performance in 2024, as on Friday he would take pole in the grouped qualifying, as his time was quicker than the other group's fastest driver Christian Mansell.

Due to Nikola Tsolov being the sixth fastest in the slower group, he would get reverse grid pole for the sprint on Saturday. He would have his ART teammate Laurens Van Hoepen alongside him on the front row of the grid.

It was time to go racing around the streets of Monte Carlo, as the formation lap got going with all cars apart from Joshua Dufek and debut driver James Hedley got away slowly but did not have to be pushed back into the pits and could join up with the rest of the field.

Nikita Bedrin in the pits and 29 cars on the grid as the lights went out as pole sitter Tsolov got a good start, as Van Hoepen didn't and lost a place to the MP Motorsport of TIm Tramnitz who got a good start. All got through Saint-Devote unscathed but it would not last up the hill.

Arvid Lindblad squeezed Christian Mansell on his left at Casino Square and as a result Lindblad was tagged round. Both of them were out of the races as a result.

Alex Dunne, Cian Shields and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak followed the path of Mansell and ended up behind him. Dunne and Shields were out of the race, while Inthraphuvasak managed to get going. During the incident, Josh Dufek had incurred damage at Casino Square and it was terminal. He was out there and then, and rather unsurprisingly with cars piled up, the safety car was deployed.

The safety car would not be needed for long as a red flag was introduced, with all the drivers heading back to the pits. Tsolov maintained the race lead before the red flag, while the biggest gainers at the start were Max Esterson and Callum Voisin who had made up six places.

After a significant delay, the race would get restarted at 11:15 local time with a rolling start procedure after the superb marshals had cleared the cars and debris from the opening lap incident. 

At 11:15, the safety car would lead the pack out of the pits to get this restarted. Nikola Tsolov, the race leader would have to back the pack up, until the safety car reached the pit lane and get the race back under way. 

At Rascasse, Tsolov bolted and headed down the start/finish straight and maintained the lead, as all the top three (Tsolov, Tramnitz and Van Hoepen) maintained position. 

​The end of the first full racing lap saw the enabling of DRS. The drivers could use it within one second of the car ahead in the DRS zone down into Saint-Devote. It would be tricky as the narrow straights make overtaking difficult around Monaco.

Alex Dunne would be noted for speeding in the pit lane infringement before the race had started. He could not be awarded an in-race penalty as he was already out.

Lap 7 and Tramnitz was a second back on Tsolov, who looked relatively comfy out front but there was still a long way in the race to go.

Sophia Floersh received a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage after cutting Saint-Devote and gaining positions.James Hedley, making his race debut at Jenzer Motorsport would also receive a penalty. This would be a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

With the race moving onto lap 10 and Gabriele Mini in 11th was under continued pressure from
Imola feature race winner Sami Meguetounif but after a poor lap he dropped almost within DRS range of the Alpine liveried Prema.

Joseph Loake was running in fifth for Rodin Motorsport, the only team without points in 2024 FIA Formula 3 going into the sprint race and after his best qualifying on Friday, Loake was looking in a strong position to score his first and his team's first points of the season.

Out front on lap 13 and Tsolov was very pacey. 

A couple of overtakes were happening into Saint Devote. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak got up into 21st overtaking Hedley, who was having a far from smooth opening race. Meanwhile, Sebastian Motoya in his Campos got ahead of Inthraphuvasak's teammate Nikita Bedrin for 23rd.

An incident would come about, seeing Kacper Sztuka retire with a puncture at Saint-Devote, that was picked up in a collision with Sophia Floersch - who was having a nightmare race for Van Amersfoort. Sztuka could not get the car going and the safety car was deployed, while the car was moved. Floersch, with front wing damage would come into the pits, but she ended up retiring the car..

Tsolov got away once again as the safety car was withdrawn, but would later be noted for weaving at the restart. He maintained the lead but could have faced a penalty, that's why his team told him to push, as they thought the penalty might be five seconds.

Tsolov was showing great pace but might have had Tim Tramnitz to thank, who was unintentionally holding the field up as Tsolov had pulled the gap to 4.4 seconds with two laps remaining.

An incident during the race between Piotr Wisnicki and Martinius Stenshorne would be investigated for causing a collision and Wisnicki would be handed a 10-second penalty for the incident.

Out front, Tsolov was simply brilliant out front and had great pace at safety car restarts. He becomes the first Bulgarian to score a podium finish, let alone a victory, in GP3 and FIA Formula 3 history. He won the race ahead of MP Motorsport rookie Tim Tramnitz, who was second to take his third podium of the season. Laurens Van Hopen added another podium to his collection in third. 

Tsolov would be cleared of any wrongdoing and therefore would keep the win.

Noel Leon was fourth for Van Amersfoort ahead of young Brit Joseph Loake who scored his first points in FIA Formula 3 and Rodin Motorsport's first points of the season. Mari Boya was sixth for Campos Racing, while Dino Beganovic was seventh - the only scoring Prema.

Luke Browning was eighth ahead of points leader Leonardo Fornaroli in ninth. Fornaroli's lead has been cut down in the standings to one point going into Sunday's feature race. Oliver Goethe rounded off the top 10.

After a fantastic amount of action, with a huge incident at the start and drama throughout, Formula 3 has definitely served up a special race and one that Nikola Tsolov would cherish forever, breaking records for himself and his country.

Action would return on Sunday for the feature race.

Brandon Whiteside 
Writer - f1journal.co.uk

Prema's Gabriele Mini set the fastest time out of both groups in Friday qualifying to take pole position for Sunday's feature race in Monaco.

Mini, in Group A, delivered a time quicker than Group B fastest driver Christian Mansell. Therefore, Mini will start on pole and ends top of qualifying, with Mansell in second. Luke Browning would be third as he was second in Mini's group.

It is the second time in Formula 3 that Mini has taken pole in Monte Carlo, as he took pole in Formula 3's inaugural Monaco visit in 2023.

Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli in the classification is fifth, and therefore will start fifth on the grid for Sunday's feature race.

​ART's NIkola Tsolov will start on reverse grid pole for Saturday's sprint race

FIA Formula 3 would arrive for qualifying on the streets of Monte Carlo like usual on a Friday. However, free practice would have come before it on Thursday - in a four day weekend for the series.

It would be Gabriele Mini who topped a disrupted session for dry running. The session saw three red flags before wet weather would come preventing anymore dry times. 

Qualifying works slightly differently for feeder series for drivers in Monte Carlo. Thanks to the delays that were caused due to the mental GP2 qualifying in 2011, two equal groups of drivers will go out at different times to prevent traffic congestion and to help things run smoother.

The groups would be split into two groups of 15 and the fastest driver out of both groups would be given pole position, and then the fastest driver from the opposite group would start on the front row, in second place in Sunday's feature race.

The sixth fastest driver from the second group would start on reverse grid pole for Saturday's sprint race. The sixth driver in the fastest group would start from second in the sprint as this would mean both drivers would be 11th and 12th for the feature race.

The groups would be split into odd and even numbers, with drivers with the even cars in group A.

Group A, even numbered drivers, would consist of: Gabriele Mini (Prema), Leonardo Fornaroli and Santiago Ramos (Trident), Kacper Sztuka (MP Motorsport), Oliver Goethe and Mari Boya (Campos), Luke Browning and Cian Shields (Hitech), Maxwell Esterson (Jenzer), Noel Leon and Tommy Smith (Van Amersfoort), Laurens Van Hoepen (ART), Tasanpol Inthraphuvasak and Josh Dufek (AIX Racing) and Piotr Wisnicki (Rodin Motorsport).

The drivers headed out for a 16-minute session to try and put their best laps together to get pole position for the feature race and to but their group in best positions 

Luke Browning was the driver who set the first representative lap but it would be very decent lap as Fornaroli would be the only one to beat it on the first run. Fornaroli would set a 1:25.963. Noel Leon would go third.

This would be a short session, so a ruined lap could be a session ruined for a driver. Browning once again went fast with a 1:24.532, Fornaroli would improve but to second - three tenths behind the Hitech. Mari Boya of Campos would show the pace he had in mid-season testing to go third.

Before long, the third flying laps rolled around as the drivers and Browning would go quicker - by another three tenths. Gabriele Mini, who took pole in the 2023 round in Monaco went second ahead of Fornaroli. Boya to fourth.

With two minutes to go the final laps started. Boya would be the first to do it but ran wide at the swimming pool to ruin his lap. Wisnicki could not make it to the line to start his lap.

Browning on his final lap gave a massive whack of the wall on the exit of the swimming pool section and broke his rear right suspension, but managed to head back to the pits so drivers could finish their laps but Browning's qualifying was over. Mini and Fornaroli were on fast laps and both would improve. 

It would be Mini who improved the most as he would top the time sheets with Fornaroli jumping up into third as the session concluded. Mini would put a stunning lap on the board and would at best be on the front row of the grid for Sunday's feature race. A 1:23.942 would be the quickest out of his group. A great job from the Alpine Academy driver.

Group B would be made up of the 15 drivers with odd car numbers. They were: Dino Beganovic and Arvid Lindblad (Prema), Sami Meguetounif (Trident), Tim Tramnitz and Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport), Sebastian Montoya (Campos), Martinius Stenshorne (Hitech), Charlie Wurz and James Hedley (Jenzer), Sophia Floersch (Van Amersfoort), Christian Mansell and Nikola Tsolov (ART Grand Prix), Nikita Bedrin (AIX), Callum Voisin and Joseph Loake (Rodin).

With Gabriele Mini holding provisional pole, the drivers headed out aiming to beat it as the green light came on at the end of the pit lane. The time they all had to beat was a 1:23.942

There would be a driver change this weekend at Jenzer. Matias Zagazeta was out recovering from having his appendix removed. So in his place, James Hedley, British GB3 driver, would come in for his debut. 

A very tough start to his first Formula 3 qualifying as he found the wall at Saint-Devote bringing out the red flag and suspending the session. He was able to get out of the pits but his session would be ruined.

The session would resume and drivers would be needing to get on with it for their representative laps. Sami Meguetounif would be the first to complete one and would set a 1:26.098. He would not stay at the top for long, as Prema's Dino Beganovic would beat it by half a second.

Beganovic would go half a second faster than the Trident of Meguetounif with a 1:25.569. Christian Mansell and Tim Tramnitz would also go quicker than Meguetounif's lap time. Mansell would go second while Tramnitz would grab third. Sebastian Montoya was a provisional fifth with Nikita Bedrin on a provisional front row for Saturday's sprint.

On the second runs Meguetounif would improve to go second but Beganovic would improve even further. However, the Swedish driver would be beaten twice.

Beganovic's teammate Arvid Lindblad would go quicker by over a tenth but Lindblad would be beaten by Christian Mansell who would put in a great effort to go top of the times. The drivers would be preparing for their final laps and their final attempts to dislodge Mini as they were a way off as yet. Mansell's time was a 1:24.921 - almost a second off the pace.

Beganovic and Lindblad would be up on Mansell's time and might have fancied their chance to improve to try and claim pole position for themselves in the feature race but they would not be able to complete their laps as a red flag came out before the drivers on fast laps could complete them.

Charlie Wurz had found the wall at Saint-Devote, similar to his Jenzer teammate James Hedley did, earlier in the session. The red flag was brought out as he could not get his car moving again. His session was over and so was everyone else's as the session would not be resumed. 

Christian Mansell would top the session but it was not enough to surpass the time of Gabriele Mini to take his first pole position in the category, but he would still start on the front row for Sunday's feature race, where the main points are on offer. Dino Beganovic and Arvid Lindblad might have had a chance but it was not to be and they will lineup fourth and sixth on Sunday, with Lindblad fourth.

Gabriele Mini, however would take pole position for the feature race. His second pole in two visits to Monaco in FIA Formula 3. Mansell, as mentioned will join him on the front row. Great positions for the two drivers to start with a circuit that produces limited overtaking.

Luke Browning would be third on the grid with Arvid Linblad joining him on the second row in fourth. Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli will start fifth with Beganovic in sixth. Mari Boya, despite running off the road in the latter stages will go from seventh and Joseph Loake eighth - his best qualifying in Formula 3 so far.

Noel Leon in ninth and Tim Tramnitz 10th in the overall classification. Laurens Van Hoepen would be 11th and Nikola Tsolov would start from reverse grid pole for Saturday's sprint, after he was 12th in the overall classification. It would be an ART sprint race front row lockout.

After an exciting qualifying session, the anticipation for Formula 3 builds up to the two races around the streets of Monte Carlo on Saturday and Sunday. The Sprint Race will commence at 10:45 local time for Monaco.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - f1journal.co.uk

Prema Racing's Gabriele Mini topped a red-flag and rain disrupted free practice session in Monaco on Thursday.

There were three red flags across the session before the rain fell, as Mini topped the session ahead of fellow countryman Leonardo Fornaroli of Trident. Mini's teammate Dino Beganovic was third.

This would be the start of a four day weekend, with qualifying happening on Friday and the two races on Saturday and Sunday as usual.

Fornaroli came into this round with the championship lead after taking over from British talent Luke Browning in Imola.

Free Practice unlike usual, would commence on a Thursday, with action being spread across four days in Monte Carlo.

An extra day of action is hardly something to complain about for Formula 3 fans and with a threat of rain in the air, at 13:10 local time the session would begin.

There would be a driver change at Jenzer Motorsport, which would be the first change made of the 2024 season.

Peruvian Matias Zagazeta in the week suffered from appendicitis and therefore required his appendix to be removed via surgery. Therefore, he would be out of action for the weekend. In his place would be GB3 British talent James Hedley. 

Hedley, 19, currently drives for VRD racing by Arden in GB3 and has taken one of his free weekends away from the series to compete for Jenzer and to make his FIA Formula 3 debut.

As drivers headed out on track, they would be keen to learn the circuit and all its tricks, challenges and narrow walls.

In the early stages, Gabriele Mini of Prema would set the quickest lap time ahead of championship leader Fornaroli, who was second. Running would not be going for more than 10 minutes as the first red flag of the session would be introduced.

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak would find the wall at Saint-Devote, the very famous turn 1. He would make a mistake while taking the corner and went straight on into the wall - losing his front wing. The Marshals needed to be able to move the car and the detached front wing, so the red flag was introduced by race control.

Without much of a delay, the car was cleared and the session would be resumed with 31 minutes remaining. The drivers would be frustrated as dry running could be pivotal ahead of the qualifying groups on Friday. Green flag running would not last for long.

As drivers started their build up laps, Rodin Motorsport's Callum Voisin found the same wall Inthraphuvasak found and was parked at Saint-Devote. His teammate Joseph Loake went down the run off at the same corner. However, Loake was able to turn round and continue on. Voisin was not, he was out.

With less than 25 minutes remaining, green flag running was back underway and the drivers would have been dreading any more stoppages, as with the threat of a thunderstorm, they were on borrowed time for dry running. Yello flags would however be displayed at sector 1, but thankfully, the incident was cleared.

While, the yellow flags were flying, Fornaroli was on a flying lap but he could not beat Mini's lap time His teammate improved and registered a lap time. His teammate being Sami Meguetounif - the most recent new race winner, after the Frenchman won the feature race in Imola.
















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After his lap, he spun on the approach to Saint Devote, managed to point it in the right way up the hill. However, his left rear suspension slammed into the wall of turn 1, breaking his left rear suspension, meaning a third flag in the first 25 minutes of the session.

Drivers returned to the pit lane, as the inevitable rain began to fall, which had ended hopes of any extra dry running the drivers were hoping for at the near end of the session.

Mini's time of 1:27.400 did not look like it as going to be beaten as the track was beginning to get soaked with the highly anticipated rain. Fornaroli was within a tenth of his fellow Italian driver - 0.091s to be exact. A 1:27.491 was the championship leader's best attempt.

The remaining drivers would be able to head back out to get experience of the circuit and to do some running in case of a wet qualifying or a wet race. Experience would be key on one of the trickiest circuits on the entire calendar - a lot would say the trickiest!

Debutant Hedley was sat 17th and that would be a great first result for the British driver at Jenzer. He was likely to stay there as the wet conditions meant it would be unlikely for the drivers to improve on dry lap times.

A moment for British Prema rookie Arvid Lindblad with around six minutes remaining, as the Red Bull junior went straight on at Mirabeau (turn 5). After a while of reversing and positioning the car, he was able to rejoin the track.

Another Red Bull Junior, Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport, went down the escape road at Saint-Devote. He was able to spin it round and rejoin. A second podium for the German rookie in the sprint race last time out at Imola. He would be aiming to build on that in the coming weekend.

The chequered flag  came out at the end of the session as drivers on flying laps could choose to complete them. Gabriele Mini would finish with the fastest lap time he set in the early stages of the session. His time of 1:27.400 was good enough to beat second place Leonardo Fornaroli by 0.091. Mini's Prema teammate Dino Beganovic was third.

Mini took pole and won the feature race in Formula 3's first visit to Monaco in 2023. He looked to be a strong favourite for good results across the weekend, if the practice times were anything to go by. However, dry running was severely hampered due to the red flag stoppages.

Sami Meguetounif was fourth, despite crashing in the session. The same situation for Callum Voisin who was fifth. All three ART drivers were in the top 10. Christian Mansell was sixth, Nikola Tsolov eighth and Laurens Van Hoepen was 10th. Piotr Wisnicki was seventh for Rodin Motorsport and the third Prema of Arvid Lindblad was ninth.

The Formula 3 weekend action would continue on Friday for the grouped qualifying to set the grid for the sprint and feature races.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - f1journal.co.uk

British GB3 racer James Hedley is to make his FIA Formula 3 debut with Jenzer Motorsport in Monaco, in place of Peruvian talent Matias Zagazeta - as announced on Wednesday.

Hedley, 19, is currently competing in his second season of GB3 and for the first time will participate in Formula 3 in place of Zagazeta. Matias will miss the round after undergoing surgery. Zagazeta had to undergo an operation to have his appendix removed but he is determined to be back for the fifth round in Barcelona.

Zagazeta took to social media to break the news to his followers. On his Instagram post, he said: "Hello everyone, unfortunately I will not be able to race in Monaco this weekend. Yesterday I had to get an emergency operation to have my appendix removed when I was on my way to Monaco. I had to stop in Genoa and get the operation here."

He concluded by saying: "Things happen for a reason. Time to rest, reset and come back stronger in Barcelona."








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​This will be a huge change for young Brit Hedley. At 19, he will be sharing a team with American Maxwell Esterson and Austrian Charlie Wurz.

So far in 2024, in his second full GB3 championship season, Hedley sits 10th in the drivers standings, driving for VRD Racing by Arden. A best finish of fourth so far in the opening race at Oulton Park -  the opening round.

It will be a good challenge and a great learning curve for Hedley, as he gets to make his Formula 3 debut on one of the most iconic weekends in motorsport - the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

Hedley's first session, free practice, begins on Thursday May 23

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - f1journal.co.uk

FIA Formula 3, ahead of its visit to Monte Carlo, announced the 2025 calendar on Wednesday.

The series will operate a 10 round calendar like its current season in 2024. Formula 3 has been going since 2019, where Robert Shwartzman was the inaugural champion that year.

2025 will see Formula 3 start off in Australia for the first time. The series has raced there in 2023 and 2024 but it will open up the 2025 season - in line with the Formula One World Championship.

Along with FIA Formula 2, the series will support the Formula One World Championship in each event. The Formula 2 Championship will however go to four different Formula One events without F3.

On the news, speaking to FIA Formula 3 via their website, F1 CEO and President Stefano Domenicali said: "F3 is providing fantastic action on track for our fans this year and I am delighted that the series will again be joining Formula 1 at 10 events next season. The skill of the drivers and the intense action on track is thrilling for our fans and demonstrates the talent we have in the pipeline for the future."​



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F1 CEO Domenicali and F2 and F3 CEO Bruno Michel in conversations at Imola. (Credit: Joe Portlock via Getty Images)

As it will in 2024, the 2025 final round will be in Italy, at the traditional iconic Monza. A track that has seen the most recent champions Gabriel Bortoleto and Victor Martins be crowned.

Italian Trident driver Leonardo Fornaroli leads the current 2024 championship by a very slim three points to young British talent Luke Browning. Remarkably Fornaroli is yet to win a race despite their being six different race winners.

The 2025 season race weekend for FIA Formula 3 will commence with the 45 practice session on March 14.

Whereas there is a season still to finish. The 2024 season will continue in Monte Carlo, Monaco as free practice will get underway on Thursday May 23.