British rookie Callum Voisin would took maiden Formula 3 pole position in dramatic qualifying! Round 9 - Belgium qualifying report

In a dramatic end to Formula 3 qualifying, at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, it would be British rookie of Rodin Motorsport, Callum Voisin who would take his maiden pole position in the category on Friday afternoon.

A thrilling 30 minutes of action in qualifying would set the grid for both races to come across the weekend, with Voisin coming out on top at the Spa Francorchamps circuit with a lap time of 2:04.321.

Voisin took pole position by over a tenth from Irish driver Alex Dunne, who secured his best qualifying result in his rookie season of FIA Formula 3 for the McLaren junior at MP Motorsport. Trident driver and championship contender Leonardo Fornaroli would qualify third.

It would be the penultimate qualifying of the season in an enthralling championship fight with Gabriele Mini the championship leader qualifying 11th and being set to start the Saturday sprint race from the front row. Third in the championship Arvid Lindblad would have a difficult qualifying and the Red Bull junior, Prema driver could only manage 27th in the order.

How Formula 3 qualifying at Spa Francorchamps unfolded

For the penultimate time in the 2024 Formula 3 Championship it was qualifying Friday in the 10-round season. Round nine was in Belgium at the iconic and legendary Spa Francorchamps circuit.

The drivers standings is incredibly close and all is up for grabs in 2024, with the top seven in the championship being separated by just 30 points with Prema Alpine Academy driver Gabriele Mini leading the championship.

NIkola Tsolov would be missing from round nine of the Formula 3 Championship over the weekend, due to him being banned for competing in another series around Spa without permission and gaining an unfair sporting advantage. He would be replaced by Ferrari Academy drive Tuukka Taponen, who would be making his Formula 3 debut. Taponen currently competes in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA), where he sits second in the standings.

Attention though would turn to qualifying and the drivers would have 30 minutes on Friday afternoon to set their best times, which would shape how the grid would look for both races to come across the weekend. Second in the championship standings Luke Browning would top the Friday morning practice.

The green light would come on at the end of the pit lane and with there being a risk of rain at 30%. Drivers would be wanting to get on with it as the dry conditions would see the faster lap times.

Hitech were not wanting to wait around and after little installation they would go and attempt their first flying laps. Luke Browning would go fastest and would set the benchmark time ahead of his teammate and fellow Brit, Cian Shields. Martinius Stenshorne would go third but would have his lap time deleted due to a track limit violation.

As the times started to flood in Alex Dunne of MP Motorsport and the McLaren junior would provisionally go to pole position but the times would tumble as more time would be being found by the pack.

Sami Meguetounif of Trident would provisionally go to the top but like Stenshorne would lose a time to track limits as would Noel Leon who a set a time to go inside the top 12. ART Grand Prix would be the team to shine though in the first few flying laps.

Christian Mansell would go to the top of the time sheets to take provisional pole before being beaten by his teammate Laurens Van Hoepen by just 11 thousandths of a second (0.011). Taponen on his first run in his Formula 3 debut would end eighth.

However Taponen would slide down to 10th by the end of the first laps. 

Nikita Bedrin for AIX Racing put a decent first lap together as he was within a tenth of Van Hoepen in third, behind Christian Mansell

As most drivers would head back to the pits for a change of tyres and a review of data, the Hitech cars would be out there setting a flying lap. Browning would make a mistake on his lap but as for Stenshorne he would go 11th fastest, which would be a provisional front row start for the Saturday sprint race - with the top 12 being reversed.

With just over 10 minutes to go, the drivers would head out onto the circuit in preparation for their final runs in qualifying for the penultimate time in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship.

After two installation laps, Noel Leon who was without a lap time due to track limit violations. He was to take provisional pole position and would set a much improved time, with a time almost a second clear of the previous provisional pole time of Van Hoepen.

There would be so many drivers to improve including Leonardo Fornaroli, Sebastian Montoya and Alex Dunne but Callum Voisin would jump to the front of the field with a fantastic lap time and would set the fastest lap time and to go to provisional pole position.

Following this would be a cool down lap but drivers would form a huge traffic jam into the latter stages of the lap causing cars going off the track and getting impatient for overtaking. This would create a few unsavoury scenes in the session with some drivers failing to make it to the line in time to start their final flying laps - Leonardo Fornaroli and Christian Mansell would be among them not making it before the chequered flag.

On the final laps though, no drivers would improve to threaten the top 12 and therefore it would signal the end of the session in Belgium at the Spa Francorchamps circuit. In fantastic fashion, it would be a first Formula 3 pole position and a first of Rodin Motorsport's season for Callum Voisin.

Voisin, the British rookie, would take a maiden pole position in the Formula 3 category and it would be a great lap. The Rodin Motorsport driver would set a 2:04.321 which would be the pole position time, and will go from pole position for Sunday's feature race.

Voisin would take pole position over a tenth clear of Irish driver Alex Dunne who would qualify second and on the front row. The McLaren junior of MP Motorsport would also secure his best qualifying in FIA Formula 3.

Championship contender Leonardo Fornaroli would fortunately start third, despite not making it to the timing line in time. Sebastian Montoya qualified fourth for Campos with Mexican driver Noel Leon qualifying in fifth place for Van Amersfoort Racing, and completing the top five.

Max Esterson would qualify in sixth place for the Jenzer Motorsport team ahead of Luke Browning who would qualify in seventh place for Hitech Pulse-Eight, with eighth place going to Trident's Sami Meguetounif.

Tim Tramnitz would finish ninth for MP Motorsport and the third Trident car of Santigao Ramos would complete the top 10. 

Championship leader Gabriele Mini would qualify 11th with Dino Beganovic in 12th, both drivers of Prema. Beganovic in 12th would provisionally start Saturday morning's sprint race from reverse grid pole, which would mean starting a second consecutive sprint race from pole position. 

ART debut driver Tuukka Taponen would qualify 13th and would just miss out on reverse grid pole for his first Formula 3 race. A great effort from the driver from Finland

Christian Mansell fifth in the championship would be 20th, while third in the championship Arvid Lindblad could only manage 27th in the order. Tough result for the pair and tough against their championship aspirations.

Action will return for the penultimate round of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, round nine, on Saturday morning as the attention will turn to the sprint race around the Spa Francorchamps circuit. Action will start at 09:50 track time, which is 08:50 UK Time.
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2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship: Round 9 - Belgium qualifying provisional result

1. Callum Voisin (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
2. Alex Dunne (Republic of Ireland, MP Motorsport)
3. Leonardo Fornaroli (Italy, Trident)
4. Sebastian Montoya (Colombia, Campos Racing)
5. Noel Leon (Mexico, Van Amersfoort Racing)
6. Max Esterson (United States, Jenzer Motorsport)
7. Luke Browning (Great Britain, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
8. Sami Meguetounif (France, Trident)
9. Tim Tramnitz (Germany, MP Motorsport)
10. Santiago Ramos (Mexico, Trident)
11. Gabriele Mini (Italy, Prema Racing)
12. Dino Beganovic (Sweden, Prema Racing)
13. Tuukka Taponen (Finland, ART Grand Prix)
14. Oliver Goethe (Germany, Campos Racing)
15. Laurens Van Hoepen (Netherlands, ART Grand Prix)
16. Nikita Bedrin (Italy, AIX Racing)
17. Matias Zagazeta (Peru, Jenzer Motorsport)
18. Joseph Loake (Great Britain, Rodin Motorsport)
19. Sophia Floersch (Germany, Van Amersfoort Racing)
20. Christian Mansell (Australia, ART Grand Prix)
21. Martinius Stenshorne (Norway, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
22. Mari Boya (Spain, Campos Racing)
23. Piotr Wisnicki (Poland, Rodin Motorsport)
24. Joshua Dufek (Austria, AIX Racing)
25. Tommy Smith (Australia, Van Amersfoort Racing)
26. Cian Shields (Great Britain, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
27. Arvid Lindblad (Great Britain, Prema Racing)
28. Charlie Wurz (Austria, Jenzer Motorsport)
29. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Thailand, AIX Racing)
30. Kacper Sztuka (Poland, MP Motorsport)

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal