In a hugely dramatic title fight that went down to the final corner of the final lap, Leonardo Fornaroli took the FIA Formula 3 Championship on Sunday morning at Monza, in front of his home crowd.

It was a crazy title fight that was always set to be filled with drama but in the final race of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship, but on the last lap into the final corner Fornaroli overtook Christian Mansell took third, which was crucially enough to take the championship.

Fornaroli would re-take the championship lead after coming into the final race with the lead of it, as he was contending for the title, throughout the race, with Gabriele Mini of Prema and Alpine Academy. It would have been heartbreaking for Mini to lose the championship, that close to the end, but it was the Trident of Fornaroli who came out victorious.

It would be four drivers who would initially come into the final race of the season, with a mathematical chance of winning the title as Fornaroli and Mini would be competing with two Brits in Luke Browning of Hitech and Arvid Lindblad, who is Prema teammates with Gabriele Mini.

For the race itself, it would be Fornaroli's Trident teammate Sami Meguetounif who would take a commanding victory after taking the lead from then race leader Alex Dunne. Meguetounif would finish ahead of Mini, who would take second but ultimately not enough to take the title as Fornaroli would complete the podium in third.

A truly fascinating season ended with the first Italian FIA Formula 3 champion and the first GP3/Formula 3 champion to win the title without winning a race.

It would be race day for the final time in 2024 in FIA Formula 3, on Sunday morning, with the feature race set to take place and set to be a championship decider.

After some thrilling action in the 2024 season with so many different twists and turns in the championship, the Formula 3 Championship was to be decided at Monza with four possible champions but it could only be one of them.

Leonardo Fornaroli, Gabriele Mini, Luke Browning and Arvid Lindblad. One of these drivers would take the crown but who would it be?

Heading into the feature race, Fornaroli would be in a strong position with a three-point lead and him starting from pole position, and to go with it he would take the extra championship points, to extend his championship lead to five points.

Fornaroli would start on pole and would be joined on the front row with Irish driver Alex Dunne, of MP Motorsport. Dunne would look to become the fourth different MP Motorsport driver to win at Monza, in Formula 3, over the past two seasons. Dunne's teammate, Tim Tramnitz, picked up his maiden Formula 3 win in the sprint race.

Not only would it be the final race of the season to a fantastic and enthralling season but it would also be the final race in the era of machinery, with after the sprint race on Saturday, the new generation of Formula 3 car would be unveiled for the 2025, 2026 and 2027 Formula 3 seasons.

The most winners in the season the most podiums in a season in the sixth season of Formula 3 with the formation lap complete. It was time to go racing for the final time in 2024 for the championship decider.

The lights would go out and the cars would roar off the grid as Fornaroli would get a near perfect start as he would cover off Alex Dunne into the first few corners but Dunne would maintain second from Gabriele Mini, who started in third. Meanwhile,

​Mari Boya would take evasive action by cutting across the first chicane and would rejoin the circuit, letting the drivers who he had jumped in front of re-overtake him. 

The field all made it through cleanly but Dunne would remain poised to try and take the lead. Although Dunne was out of the championship fight, he was still wanting to try and continue MP Motorsport's dominance around Monza and he would make a move for the lead. 

Down the inside of the final corner and the McLaren junior would take the lead of the race lead at the end of the first lap and Fornaroli would not put up too much of a strong defence as any contact could completely risk the championship.

Fornaroli would have his Trident teammate in the top four, in Sami Meguetounif and therefore he would be providing a headache for second in the championship Gabriele Mini. Down the inside into turn 1 and Meguetounif would take third from Mini and once again there would be one car between the top two in the championship.

Start of the third lap and Fornaroli would have a look around the outside of turn 1 on Dunne but would be to no prevail as the Italian driver would not wanting to risk it too much with a championship on the line.

Further back and there would be drama for one of the contenders in Luke Browning, who would spin at the Ascari chicane with many cars forcing to take evasive action because of the Williams Academy Hitech in the middle of the road and stationary. 

This would lead to contact between drivers with Matias Zagazeta, Cian Shields, Sophia Foersch and Piotr Wisnicki all involved on the exit of the chicane. This would see the safety car be brought out and therefore this would neutralise the pack.

Browning would not fully be out of the race as he would pit for a new front wing but his chances of a title had slid away and he would have so much to do. He would have to rely on some serious drama for Fornaroli and Mini.

Lap 6 and the safety would come in at the end of that lap so racing would be resumed in the championship deciding race and Dunne would choose to get the race back underway at the start of the parabolica however Fornaroli would intend to stay with him and he would be tryingt pressure the young Irishman into a mistake.

Mini would not get off to the best of restarts as he would lose a place to the ART of Mansell and he would not be the best of times in the Prema Racing car. However, luck could be on his side as Fornaroli would drop back to fifth after going wide and through the gravel at Ascari. A nightmare for the Trident driver, who had slipped behind his main championship rival.

Start of lap 8 and Fornaroli would recover himself and would make his way back ahead of Mini and the Prema driver would be struggling and would have to dig deep for the championship. The move was made at Ascari. Fornaroli trying to rectify his race at the same place where he made the mistake at, one lap earlier. 

Meanwhile all the drama was kicking off between the top two in the championship, joy was at the car 5 of Trident with Sami Meguetounif taking the lead from Alex Dunne into turn 1. A truly brilliant move and the Frenchman was into the race lead.The reformed top three was Meguetounif ahead of Dunne in second and Mansell in third, with still plenty of time for it to all change.

Within the battle of the top three Mansell would get ahead of Dunne for second with a good move from the ART man, who was in the title fight coming into the weekend but sadly after luck didn't go his way in the Saturday sprint, he would have nothing to play for in the final race.

Mini would be getting the urgency call from his team Prema, who were urging him to get ahead of Fornaroli and on lap 13 he was closing him down but likewise Fornaroli was trying to hunt down Alex Dunne of MP Motorsport for the final place on the podium, to once again put a car between him and Mini,

Dunne would lose DRS to the front two and it would make it a no contest for Leonardo Fornaroli to make his way through into turn 1, as through the rest of the lap Mini would drop back a touch.

It would take until the start of lap 16 for Mini to hunt down Fornaroli as that's when he would be able to get of Dunne. Mini of the Alpine Academy and Prema was in search to become the first FIA Formula 3 champion from Italy and to take that honour away from Fornaroli.

Meanwhile all this had gone on a few penalties had been handed out. For knocking the polystyrene down at the first chicane, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak would be handed a 10-second time penalty and this would be added to the end of his race time. Sebastian Montoya and Luke Browning would find themselves also in trouble with the Race Stewards.

Fornaroli was on a mission and would be on a charge after the ART of Christian Mansell for second place in the race and sure enough on lap 18 he would find his way through into turn 1 for second place, although he would have a slight lockup, while completing the move and also into the following Roggia chicane. That would have done his tyres no good at all.

On the following lap, Mini would get ahead of Mansell down the start/finish straight before they reached turn 1 and now he would be up into third place. With the race being on lap 19, not much time was there for things to change. If Mini wanted to get the title, he would have to seriously work for it over the next few laps.

The following lap and Mini had closed up to the back of Fornaroli but was unable to make a move, he was going to need to try and get ahead as quickly as possible.

However on lap 21, there would be a major late twist in the championship title as Mini found his way ahead of Fornaroli but Mansell would also get back ahead! A significant twist because as it stood, Gabriele Mini would become the champion of 2024.

This would leave Fornaroli just one more lap to rectify the misfortune. Could he do it in such little time?

Down the main straight, DRS advantage for Mansell would keep Fornaroli at bay that in truth would be supplied by Mini, who would have to play this tactically to run out champion. Down to the Roggia chicane and Fornaroli would go for a move but both would go off the road and therefore have to concede the place. He was running out of time.

Down to Parabolica however, what was about to unfold was sensational by any standards as Fornaroli would desperately and in control send it down the inside of the final corner on the final lap to take third place and to bring him back into the championship lead. A hugely dramatic pass and that was fantastic from Fornaroli.

However, fantastic could also be used to recognise the performance of Fornaroli's Trident teammate Sami Meguetounif, who out front really showed his skill and controlled the pace with all the fighting going on behind him. He would cross the line and take his second win of the season and his second feature race in Italy - after taking his first in the Imola feature race back in May 

Mini would finish second in a truly brilliant effort, however, it wouldn't be enough for the Alpine Academy man of Prema to clinch the Formula 3 title. As with that daring move down the inside of the final corner, to take third, Fornaroli would take the final place on the podium but the title also.

Christian Mansell would finish fourth for ART, while after starting on the front row, MP Motorsport's Alex Dunne completed the top five. Hitech's Martinius Stenshorne would be sixth ahead of sprint race winner Tim Tramnitz in seventh.

Noel Leon finished eighth for Van Amersfoort Racing ahead of Laurens Van Hoepen who was ninth for ART Grand Prix.with Prema's Dino beganovic completing the top 10 and taking the final point.

A truly remarkable Formula 3 Championship comes to a close after a fantastic season with so many twists and turns at the top and so much change throughout the year.

The season began in February and ended in Spetember but what happened in between was truly magnificent and is a great advert for the FIA Formula 3 Championship and a fantastic title fight that had four drivers within a mathematical possibility heading into the final race of the season on Sunday morning.

So much action with all 10 teams appearing on the podium at least once in what will be a Formula 3 season to remember for many years to come. The field was so evenly spread and there were so many drivers that were fighting for results.

Across the 10 rounds and 20 races, there was 12 different winners, with Arvid Lindblad, Luke Browning, Dino Beganovic and Nikola Tsolov being the repeat winners of the season but 21 different drivers ended up on the podium. 

We have seen 34 different drivers competing in the championship with four stand-ins participating. James Hedley, James Wharton, Tuukka Taponen and Noah Stromsted have all been fantastic to welcome onto the grid.

Prema would once again return to Teams Championship glory in 2024 and they clinched the championship with a round to spare, as they won it in the Belgium feature race, in round nine, at Spa Francorchamps. At the end of the season, Prema would have the title by 91 points from Trident who were second and ART Grand Prix were third.

However, Trident would still claim a title and it would be the drivers one with Leonardo Fornaroli without a win, taking the championship title in the most dramatic and fascinating of circumstances with a pass on the final corner of his season, to take it away from Gabriele Mini.

Fornaroli has been consistent which is the key to success and Fornaroli's championship-winning campaign proves exactly that. Yes he may have not won a race, but his form has been super consistent. He has scored seven podiums which is a brilliant record.

The Italian driver becomes the first driver from Italy to win the FIA Formula 3 Championship but also he becomes the first driver in GP3 and Formula 3 history to win the championship and not take a victory through the season. Simply remarkable from him.

Although it's Fornaroli's time in the spotlight, there was going to be seven drivers fighting for it this weekend, before Colapinto's move to Williams kick-started a chain of events that saw Oliver Goethe graduate and therefore would narrow it down to six.

Not all of these talents will make it to Formula 1 but one thing is for sure is that they have put their names in conversations for future seats in any top flight motorsport series. After all these talents are the stars tomorrow.

There will be post-season testing in Formula 3 in 2024, which will be the last action of the calendar year. However, with a new car era coming in 2025, excitement is starting for the next season of this thrilling championship, which begins at Melbourne,

​Until then, goodbye!

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

German rookie Tim Tramnitz took victory for MP Motorsport in an action-packed final Formula 3 sprint race of 2024, which took place on Saturday morning.

Tramnitz has managed to take his maiden victory in the FIA Formula 3 Championship, which has come in a critical championship-deciding weekend, where all of the focus has been lying.

The Red Bull junior driver took victory from the Campos of Sebastian Montoya, who finished second narrowly ahead of Santiago Ramos, who was third for Trident.

After an action-packed race with a lot of drama and a lot of overtakes, Fornaroli leads the championship after the sprint race and had a one-point lead coming into the weekend over Gabriele Mini.

That lead has extended itself by two points but the top three, which includes Luke Browning, is separated by three points.

After a four week summer break, Formula 3 would return to racing action for one final weekend in 2024 at the Monza circuit, in a championship-deciding weekend. Six drivers would have the possibility of taking the championship title 

Gabriele Mini, Luke Browning, Arvid Lindblad, Dino Beganovic and Christian Mansell would be looking to try and de-throne Leonardo Fornaroli, who would come into the round with the championship lead.

It would be Fornaroli who would take pole position for the feature race and with it two extra championship points. However, Saturday morning would see the sprint race grid have the op 12 from qualifying reversed.

Therefore, it would be Tim Tramnitz who would start from pole position with Dino Beganovic starting alongside him on the front row, who is a championship challenger. It would be time to go racing for the final sprint race of the season.

There would be drama before the start of the race, as Christian Mansell would cause an extra formation lap, as he had a mechanical issue on the initial formation lap. Not what the ART driver needed and put a big dent in his championship hopes.

After the second formation lap it would be time to go racing for the final sprint race of the year. The lights would go out anfd an initial good start from Tim Tramnitz he would maintain the lead after covering off Beganovic. 

Beganovic would  into turn 1 as Sebastian Montoya would take second from Beganovic after being forced wide at turn 2 of the first chicane and would keep the place. There would be moves made all over the field on the first lap as Nikola Tsolov would go for a pass into Ascari but would lock up on cold tyres and go straight on into the gravel. Tsolov would rejoin safely enough but would drop all the way down the order.

Start of the second lap and there would be a pause of green flag racing as Tim Tramnitz would hold the race lead. The safety car would be deployed due to an incident at the first chicane as Noel Leon and Nikita Bedrin would end up in the gravel out of the race!

Leon would be hit through the back from his Van Amersfoort Racing teammate Tommy Smith and would end up collecting Nikita Bedrin through no fault of his own. Racing would be neutralised, while the marshals would clear the cars from being a track hazard. Smith would be handed a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

Lap 6 would be the restart lap and it would be a good restart from Tramnitz and he would get a much better getaway than Montoya, who would be under pressure from Dino Beganovic and Sami Meguetounif, who would both be shovelled out - Beganovic dropping to fourth and Meguetounif dropping to sixth. Santiago Ramos would be up to third.

Leonardo Fornaroli would already start Sunday's feature race from pole position as he would be making great progress through the field and was flying along and would be up into the points as he would sit 10th in the order. He would make a move for ninth on Arvid Lindblad, one of his championship challengers.

Fornaroli was flying and on lap nine into the first corner would make a move for eighth on Martinius Stenshorne in the McLaren liveried Hitech. Fornaroli was having a fantastic race and was the fastest driver on circuit. Evidence of this would be him taking the fastest lap of the race so far.

One lap later and it would be an extra position gained from Fornaroli as he overtook Mari Boya.for seventh.

Dino Beganovic had been struggling a bit since the restart and was passed by Meguetounif and dropped to fifth, with a lap later he would be behind Alex Dunne for sixth. Not the result, Beganovic needed and would near enough end his championship challenge and leave him with a lot of work to do.

However, the entertaining racing would be halted due to the second safety car of the race would be deployed due to an incident at the first chicane involving two cars. It would be the Rodin Motorsport of Piotr Wisnicki and the Jenzer Motorsport of Max Esterson that would come together and would go into the gravel trap.

Wisnicki would go wide into the first corner and would try and keep the position ahead of Esterson but he would clip the curb on the inside and collide with the Jenzer Motorsport and both would be out of the race. Both would blame each other but the Stewards would investigate it after the race.

There would be one final lap of racing as at the end of lap 16 the safety car would come in as the two cars had been cleared and there would be a chance for one lap of racing. Tim Tramnitz would be under pressure from those behind, who were keen on taking victory. 

Tramnitz would maintain the lead but remarkably behind Luke Browning would make his way into the top eight as he would pass Fornaroli, in a critical fight for a few points, which could make all the difference ahead of the final feature race on Sunday morning.

Browning would have a great final lap and would make a charge towards Boya as Gabriele Mini would make his way ahead of Martinius Stenshorne into 10th for the final point in the order.

Out front, Tramnitz would be brilliant out in front and had maintained great pace after starting from pole position and had led the entire race throughout. Around the parabolica and the German rookie for one more round only, would see the chequered flag first and would take his maiden Formula 3 victory.

Tramnitz of MP Motorsport would take the win ahead of Sebastian Montoya for Campos, who was second. It would be MP Motorsport's third Formula 3 win at Monza in succession, after winning both races at Monza in 2023. Mexican driver Santiago Ramos would finish third for Trident.

Alex Dunne would finish fourth, making it two MP Motorsport cars inside the top five as Dino Beganovic would complete the top five as he finished fifth for Prema. Sami Meguetounif was sixth for Trident ahead of Luke Browning, who had driven a great race to finish seventh. 

Mari Boya was eighth to make it two Campos cars which finished inside the top 10. Leonardo Fornaroli and Gabriele Mini completed the points scoring and the top 10 finishers.

After the race, five points would separate the top three in the championship, ith today's points added. Should Fornaroli start the race tomorrow, that's when the pole position points will come into effect. 

After the sprint race, five points would separate Leonardo Fornaroli, Gabriele Mini and Luke Browning as the final race of the season will take place on Sunday morning with the feature race at Monza, taking place 07:35 UK time.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

​Friday, August 30th, would see the final qualifying session of the season take place in a season finale that was set to see the drivers title go down to the very wire with six possible champions heading into the final round of the season.

It was Mari Boya of Campos Racing who topped the morning practice session. Boya would be joined at Campos by Noah Stromsted making his debut in FIA Formula 3, replacing Oliver Goethe who had graduated to Formula 2 to drive for MP Motorsport.

The qualifying would be split into two equal groups like it was in the Monaco round back in May. 15 cars would participate in each group based on their car number being odd or even. Whoever takes the fastest lap time out of both groups would take pole position for the feature race and the two championship points that come with it.

In Group B, it would be the remaining 15 drivers who didn't participate in Group A, and who all have odd numbered cars. This would include the other three of the six championship challengers.

Group B would consist of:

• #1 Dino Beganovic & #3 Arvid Lindblad (Prema Racing)
• #5 Sami Meguetounif (Trident)
• #7 Tim Tramnitz & #9 Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport)
• #11 Sebastian Montoya (Campos Racing)
• #15 Martinius Stenshorne (Hitech Pulse-Eight)
• #17 Charlie Wurz & #19 Matias Zagazeta (Jenzer Motorsport)
• #21 Sophia Floersch (Van Amersfoort Racing)
• #23 Christian Mansell & #25 Nikola Tsolov (ART Grand Prix)
• #27 Nikita Bedrin (AIX Racing)
• #29 Callum Voisin & #31 Joseph Loake (Rodin Motorsport)

The green light would come on at the end of the pit lane for the second time in Monza and Group B would be underway with these 15 drivers aiming to take pole position away from championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli.

The first half of the 12-minute session had gone by without any action and with seven minutes remaining the drivers headed onto the circuit to prepare for their laps in an attempt to try and get pole position for the final round of the season.

Unfortunately for Christian Mansell, who is one of the challengers for the title, he had backed up the pack but unfortunately in comparison to the others, he had none of the cirtical tow the others would have had.

In the lap times, it would be Alex Dunne of Ireland who would go top of the times with a great effort in his MP Motorsport car. Dunne would go fastest of Group B with a 1:38.818, which was just ahead of Sami Meguetounif of Trident who would sit second.

The chequered flag would be out meaning only the drivers on current flying laps were able to set new personal bests and improve their best lap times. However, no one was able to beat Dunne's time and he would take pole for group B.

However it wouldn't be pole position overall as Leonardo Fornaroli's time was better and therefore he would take pole position overall, for the final round of the season but more critically two points, which would extend his championship lead to three over Gabriele Mini.

In the qualifying classification overall, Fornaroli would have pole position with Alex Dunne set to start alongside him in second for the feature race on Sunday. Gabriele Mini completes the top three, with Trident duo Sami Meguetounif fourth and Santiago Ramos completing the top five.

Sebastian Montoya was sixth for Campos, ahead of AIX Racing's Joshua Dufek in seventh. Championship challenger Christian Mansell is eighth ahead of Mari Boya in ninth with Dino Beganovic completing the top 10. 

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak was 11th with Tim Tramnitz starting the final sprint race from pole position in the final sprint race of the season as he qualified in 12th. 

Saturday morning will be when the final Formula 3 sprint race of 2024 takes place, in this important championship-defining weekend.
​

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

In the final Formula 3 practice session of 2024, on Friday morning, Campos' Mari Boya was fastest at Monza, in Italy.

To conclude the Formula 3 campaign will be the very tight title fight conclusion, taking place this weekend with six possible drivers to come out on top by the chequered flag of Sunday's feature race.

Boya would be quickest ahead of one of the challengers Christian Mansell who was second for ART Grand Prix. Belgium feature race winner Callum Voisin would finish third.

Leonardo Fornaroli comes into the round with the lead of the championship. However, Gabriele Mini, Luke Browning, Arvid Lindblad, Dino Beganovic and Christian Mansell all have ambitions of taking the title too, setting this weekend up to be a fascinating finale.

After a month since the last round at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, it was time to decide the title race that had six possible drivers, taking part in the final round, who have a mathematical chance of winning the championship.

The championship had made it to Monza with the closest season in FIA Formula 3 Championship history to be decided and the sixth champion would be determined from one of six. The six drivers to have chance of becoming champion are: Leonardo Fornaroli, Gabriele Mini, Luke Browning, Arvid Lindblad, Dino Beganovic and Christian Mansell.

Ahead of a grouped qualifying session in the afternoon, the drivers would be hoping to get as much running in during the 45-minute practice session that was set to take place on Friday morning, which would be the final practice session of the season.

The green light would come on at the end of the pit lane to signal the start of the session and drivers would head out onto the circuit, as some would be more eager than others.

After a few installation laps the drivers would begin with a first full representative flying lap and it would be Gabriele Mini who would lead the way at the top of the time sheets, ahead of Hitech's Cian Shields. Laurens Van Hoepen of ART would sit third.

Championship contender Arvid Lindblad would have a moment in the early stages for Prema as he would go wide and go through the gravel on the exit of the second Lesmo. Thankfully he was able to use his ability to keep it going and out of the barriers. Therefore, he would rejoin.

Kacper Sztuka would not have the final practice of the 2024 campaign, that he had in mind. He came to a stop down the back straight, on the way down to turn 11 at the Parabolica. It appeared that Sztuka had suffered from some sort of mechanical issue and would bring out the Virtual Safety Car (VSC).

It would be an opportunity for the race director to test a Virtual Safety car as there was a small gap in the barriers where the ever hardworking marshals could push the car through.Soon enough there would be another stoppage as the red flag would be brought out to remove gravel that had been brushed onto the track in two separate areas.

Out of the De La Roga chicane, AIX Racing's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak spun and kicked up a load of gravel onto the circuit. Inthraphuvasak would carry on but the gravel would cover the circuit. Also, the exit of the second Lesmo would also be covered due to Sebastian Montoya having a venture into the gravel trap.

The red flag would be brought out momentarily while Marshals swept the gravel off the track and pushed it back into the gravel beds.

Before long the session would be resumed and the drivers would head out onto the circuit to try and set some lap times and familiarise themselves with the track with 20 minutes to go. After a couple of installation laps, drivers would begin to start setting some lap times that would be better than Mini's time.

Noel Leon would beat Mari Boya's time to go quickest with his first lap, but as evidence of the ever-developing circuit the Mexican of Van Amersfoort Racing would not stay fastest for long. This would be down to Luke Browning of Hitech having a blistering final sector to go fastest, thanks to slipstream for the entire sector that helped him gain extra speed. 

However, Browning would be beaten by Leon, who would show great pace once again to go fastest in the session as the timing pages would change once again.

With 11 minutes to go, MP Motorsport's Tim Tramnitz would go third fastest, while his MP Motorsport teammate Alex Dunne would go fifth fastest. The MP Motorsport pair were having a much better session than their teammate Sztuka, who had his session ended early on due to mechanical issues.

Prema teammates Mini and Lindblad would go onto the soft compounds with less than 10 to go as drivers and teams were testing different things with limited time remaining in practice. Mini would go fastest with a great lap of 1:38.998. Meanwhile, Lindblad went fourth fastest.

Christian Mansell, also a championship challenger would go to second, 0.155 off Mini's time, which was a great lap from ART Grand Prix. He was showing good pace in the session, just like he had all year.

Soon enough it would be time for the final flying laps with Nikola Tsolov going second and Mari Boya going third as Mini would improve his time at the top of the times. Soon enough though he would be beaten by Mansell. Christian Mansell would go quickest with a 1:38.309 for ART. A great lap for the Australian.

However, it wouldn't be first position for long for Mansell, as Mari Boya would go fastest. It was a great lap from Boya who set a 1:38.172, which was still a strong time despite the slipstream assist from Hitech's Cian Shields.

​The chequered flag would be out so drivers were able to finish the flying laps they were at that time, if they had made it to the timing line prior to the flag being waved. However, most of these laps would be disrupted due to yellow flags in sector 2.

Santiago Ramos would find himself in the gravel at the Second Lesmo after spinning and would be able to get himself out therefore ending the session and creating a track hazard for the remaining drivers on flying laps and therefore, they would have to lift off the accelerator.

Mari Boya would be the happiest driver at the end of practice as he ended the session fastest for Campos. Boya would be quickest ahead of the ART of Christian Mansell who was second with Belgium feature race winner Callum Voisin third.

Sami Meguetounif would finish the session ahead of Gabriele Mini who would complete the top five. Nikola Tsolov would finish sixth ahead of Cian Shields who would finish seventh, with Matias Zagazeta finishing in eighth place. Dino Beganovic and Joshua Dufek completed the top 10.

After the final practice of the 2024 season, the final qualifying of the season will take place later on through the day on Friday, with the six battling for the best position possible.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

For the final time in 2024, Formula 3 will return to racing action as the season finale will happen this coming weekend with six drivers who could walk away with the championship.

In a season, where it has been extremely competitive, it will all come down to this weekend's finale, taking place at the iconic Monza circuit, which is a circuit that is a common feature on most of the feeder series competitions in Europe.

There are six different potential champions from four different teams and it would have been seven potential champions from five but Campos' Oliver Goethe will not participate in the final round of the season.

​Goethe will make the step up to FIA Formula 2 and replace Franco Colapinto for the round at Monza, who is making his Formula 1 debut. In Goethe's place and making his debut will be Danish driver Noah Stromsted. 

Leonardo Fornaroli, Gabriele Mini, Luke Browning, Arvid Lindblad, Dino Beganovic and Christian Mansell are the drivers who can mathematically still win the Formula 3 championship. Fornaroli comes into the finale with the championship lead, by just one point ahead of Mini.

For the final time, this coming weekend, Formula 3 will go racing in 2024, and it will be around the iconic and legendary Monza circuit which will host the final round of the Formula 3 campaign for the third year in a row after doing so previously in 2022 and 2023.

​The circuit has seen the likes of Yuki Tsunoda, Robert Shwartzman, Franco Colapinto and Frederik Vesti all clinch victories at the Monza circuit in their FIA Formula 3 careers before moving onto the heights of World Endurance and Formula 1.

It is a circuit that presents great overtaking opportunities and has presented many high dramatic moments in the past with thrilling wheel-to-wheel action and some even title defining moments.

Monza is made up of 11 turns and has a lap length of 5.793km and is a circuit that is used by most of the European feeder series championships, making it a circuit the drivers will be familiar with. The circuit has two DRS zones which will add to the already high chance of overtaking, which run down the start/finish straight into turn 1 and into turn 8.

Alexander Smolyar has the lap record in FIA Formula 3, which he set for MP Motorsport back in the 2022 campaign. A 1:37.559 that was set by Smolyar remained unbeaten in the 2023 round, which also saw the championship sealed as it marked the end of the season.

Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto, who now competes in FIA Formula 2, took the 2023 Formula 3 Championship but it would be at the final round at Monza where he would seal the deal, but he would do it without needing the racing. 

On the Friday, practice and qualifying would take place, with it being a very positive day for Oliver Goethe. After topping practice, in the morning of Friday, Goethe would go onto put an impressive performance in the afternoon qualifying to take pole position for the feature race on Sunday.

However, as Goethe was not one of the drivers who could take it away from Bortoleto, the championship was sealed and Bortoleto had clinched the 2023 Formula 3 Championship before any of the racing had begun, for the final time that season.

Bortoleto would celebrate by continuing to impress as he would finish second on the road behind Franco Colapinto, who took victory for MP Motorsport. Colapinto would take his second victory in successive Formula 3 seasons, after winning there with Van Amersfoort Racing in 2022.

Colapinto would take the win ahead of Bortoleto, who would take second place for his team Trident, in his final weekend. It would be two MP Motorsport cars, who would make it onto the podium as Mari Boya would take third place and make it a double delight for the Dutch team.

Attention would then turn to Sunday's feature race, which would see the 2023 Formula 3 Championship concluded, and the conclusion to what had been a thrilling season of action. It would be an all British podium as Jonny Edgar would make it a podium for all three MP Motorsport drivers in the same weekend.

Edgar would run out victorious in his maiden and only Formula 3 victory in his career. Edgar would finish ahead of Williams Academy driver Zak O'Sullivan, who finished second Edgar and O'Sullivan would be joined on the podium by Taylor Barnard. All three would have their last race in FIA Formula 3 end in the best possible way - on the podium.

The races will be held over on Saturday and Sunday but just like Monaco on Friday, qualifying will be split into a grouped format. The group format will see the 30 drivers on the grid split into two groups of 15 which will therefore determine the grid for the race.

In terms of racing laps, 18 laps are to come in Saturday's sprint race, whereas 22 laps are to come on Sunday, which will be the final race of the season. No mandatory pit stops are required to take place as is normal with the FIA Formula 3 Championship.
​

Due to Franco Colapinto vacating his MP Motorsport seat to go and live his dream of becoming a Formula 1 driver, this left an empty seat that needed filling ahead of the weekend in the Formula 2 Championship.

On Tuesday, it was announced that Colapinto, who used to race in FIA F3, would race for Williams for the remainder of the 2024 campaign and will go onto make his Formula 1 racing debut.

This has since created a domino effect with MP Motorsport needing a driver and they have gone and searched for a replacement. However, in finding a replacement, they would sign Oliver Goethe of Campos Racing in the Formu;a 3 Championship.

Goethe was mathematically in contention for the Formula 3 title, in the decider this coming weekend, but MP Motorsport were confident in giving him the chance. Goethe had previously competed in the Formula Regional European Championship with MP Motorsport, so he is well known to the family.

Formula 3 is all about helping drivers learning their trade and now another driver has graduated and made the progression step up to Formula 2. However, this would knock another domino over as Campos would now be in search for a replacement for the final round.

On Thursday it was announced that Danish driver Noah Stromsted will take the place and be all set to make his Formula 3 debut and partner Mari Boya and Sebastian Montoya for the final round at Monza, which he is yet to race at in his full time championship - Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA).

Stromsted, 17, has only been in feeder series open-wheel racing since 2021, when in 11 races he won nine as he finished second in the F4 Danish Championship. Since then, Stromsted has made his way through the levels and has been gaining those vital pieces of experience.

He has previously raced for Campos, in 2023, when he participated in the Spanish F4 Championship.

Stromsted currently, in 2024, competes in the FRECA Championship with the RPM racing outfit. So far this season, Stromsted has had a decent first full season in the championship up until this point. The 17-year old currently sits eighth in the standings with two podiums and two fastest laps to his name.

He will have a task, with this being an incredibly late call up to take the seat, but this will be a great learning experience for Noah, who will be making his Formula 3 debut this weekend.

The most recent round of Formula 3 action is before the summer break as round nine of the Formula 3 Championship took place at the iconic Spa Francorchamps circuit, in Belgium. 

Formula 3 would have the penultimate round of the championship at Zandvoort and would have seven drivers all looking to try and strengthen their title bids.

It could have been eight had Nikola Tsolov not gained a ban for the Belgian round, earlier on in the season for competing at the circuit in a different category (Eurocup-3). The Alpine junior would be replaced by Tuukka Taponen. The Finnish driver would come in to make his Formula 3 debut.

Friday's action would see a dramatic qualifying session with changing track conditions playing a factor. This would be after Williams Academy talent Luke Browning topped practice. However, Browning's fellow Brit Callum Voisin would take pole position for Rodin Motorport.

Voisin taking pole position at Spa would be his first in Formula 3 history as he set a 2:04.321 in the latter stages. Behind Voisin by 0.123s was Irish driver Alex Dunne of MP Motorsport in second, with Leonardo Fornaroli completing the top three in third.

Saturday morning would see the sprint race take place and it would be dominant race by Prema, which would help the team on their way to clinch the team's championship, which could be mathematically wrapped up by the end of Sunday's feature race.

For just his second Formula 3 victory, Dino Beganovic would take victory for the team to reignite his championship challenge. The Ferrari Academy driver would see off a strong challenge from his Alpine Academy Prema teammate Gabriele Mini, who would finish second. In a great effort to finish third would be Mexican driver Noel Leon, who made many overtakes and put on some brilliant entertainment.

As for the feature race, it would be history for Callum Voisin and Rodin Motorsport as both would grab their first victories in the FIA Formula 3 Championship. A hugely significant day for Rodin Motorsport, who had not grabbed a win until that point in a championship that had been running since 2019.

A great achievement for the team and the first Formula 3 victory for Callum Voisin. The British driver took victory ahead of Sebastian Montoya who pulled off an impressive drive to finish second for Campos, as crucially finishing third would be Leonardo Fornaroli, who would take the championship lead heading into the final round.

The end of the round would see Prema mathematically crowned Teams Champions with a round to spare. A great achievement from them which would leave all the focus set on the drivers championship - heading into the final round at Monza.

With Oliver Goethe making the jump to Formula 2, there are still six drivers who could write themselves in the history books and become the 2024 Formula 3 Champion.

​ Let's take a look at how they look going into the round and how they sit. We will start with the driver sixth in the standings before finishing with the leader

With the toughest points haul to overcome but someone who is still within a mathematical shot of the Formula 3 title is Australian driver of ART - Christian Mansell.

Mansell who is enduring his second full season of Formula 2, hunting for glory, after a year of solid learning in his first full season at Campos Racing in 2023. Now with ART, Mansell has had a consistent year of performances and because of this he is brought into the title fight with a round to spare.

This weekend has to go right for the 19-year old, who is 32 points off the championship lead. So far in 2024, Mansell has unfortunately failed to score in three rounds across the nine that have taken place so far.

He has not taken a victory so far in 2024 but has collected four podiums across the season, including three second place finishes. Mansell has also taken pole position once this year at Barcelona for round 5.

It will be a tough ask for Mansell being 32 points off the lead but it isn't over until it is over and that will be the frame of mind Mansell will intend to enter the weekend with.

The first out of the three teammates to be previewed at Prema is Swedish driver and two-time race winner Dino Beganovic, who comes into this round fifth in the standings.

Beganovic, Like Mansell, is in his second full season of the Formula 3 Championship and is supported by the Ferrari Driver Academy. Therefore, Beganovic will be hoping that the Tifosi can bring him the good luck that he needs in order to become the 2024 Formula 3 champion.

After clinching two victories this season, one pole position and four podiums, Beganovic will be hoping that he can find some significant results to overhaul a 29-point advantage.

Next up is the one and only rookie in the list in Arvid Lindblad, who is also of Prema and is one of two British drivers within a chance of clinching the Formula 3 championship and becoming the 2024 champion.

Lindblad who has spent most of the 2024 campaign as a 16-year old and this will be his first round of the Formula 3 Championship as a 17-year old. The Brit is part of the Red Bull junior driver.

Lindblad may be a young talent but there is nothing that put him off performing in his debut race. As in the opening round in Bahrain, Lindblad took victory of the sprint race which was the very beginning of this thrilling season.

Since then, Lindblad has managed to claim three more victories, including a sensational double in front of his home crowd at Silverstone, where he won both the sprint and feature races. Lindblad has shown incredible consistency and brilliant maturity ahead of his years.

The 17-year old comes into this final round of the season as an underdog but is 16 points off the lead of the championship. With anything possible, Lindblad won't lose hope of the title just yet.

It is quite remarkable that this FIA Formula 3 championship has been so close and unpredictable, with six points separating the top three heading into the final round of the season.

In third place is Luke Browning, who won the opening feature race of the year all the way back in Bahrain in the opening round of the season back in February.

Since then, Browning has been able to manage one more victory, which also came in a feature race, with the race taking place at round six in Austria. Alongside the two victories, the British talent has been on the podium once more, which was in Monaco. 

It has also been a season where he has achieved back-to-back pole positions but he will be hoping to take the title at Monza this weekend.

Sitting second in the standings and just one point shy of the lead of the championship is Gabriele Mini, who will be hoping to win the championship on home soil.

Mini, who joined Prema for 2024 is in the best position out of the challengers to go on and take the championship title by the chequered flag in Sunday's feature race.

The Alpine Academy driver has shown great consistency to have 12 points finishes across the 18 races so far. Mini's only victory from five podiums this season came in the feature race at Monaco and will be hoping that he can add to it in front of his home crowd at Monza this weekend.

Coming into the season finale in the best position and with the championship lead is Italian Leonardo Fornaroli, who is nearing the end of his second full season with the Trident team.

Fornaroli has shown great consistent pace in his Formula 3 career and demonstrated he is a talent that is capable of achieving things in the future. 

The 19-year old has needed the consistency of high points scoring to get him through this season and to keep his title hopes alive and he has done just that as he leads the way with one round to go.

Remarkably, Fornaroli has achieved 16 points finishes out of a possible 18 races, which is incredible consistency demonstrated. Out of the 16 finishes in the points, six have been podiums.

However, the most remarkable thing about it is that Fornaroli is yet to win a race in his Formula 3 career, including the 2023 and 2024 campaigns. He will be hoping to change his fortunes by taking victory in the final round to take the title on home soil.

Fornaroli's quest for the title will take place in an exciting weekend of action in store at "The Temple of Speed" Monza circuit.

Track Times

• Free Practice 30/08: 09:35-10:20
• Qualifying - Group A 30/08: 15:00-15:13
• Qualifying - Group B 30/08: 15:21-15:34
• Sprint Race 31/08: 09:30-10:10
• Feature Race 01/09: 08:35-09:20

UK Times

• Free Practice 30/08: 08:35-09:20
  
• Qualifying - Group A 30/08: 14:00-14:13
  
• Qualifying - Group B 30/08: 14:21-14:34
  
• Sprint Race 31/08: 08:30-09:10
• Feature Race 01/09: 07:35-08:20

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

Prema Racing have been crowned Formula 3 teams champions in 2024, for a fifth time in FIA Formula 3 in a chaotic Formula 3 feature race at Spa Francorchamps on Sunday morning.

The feature race saw three safety cars and a lot of dramatic action as the teams champions were crowned in Italian outfit Prema Racing, who have won the Teams Standings with a round to spare. Also in the action-packed race, it would be a maiden Formula 3 victory for team and driver.

Callum Voisin of Rodin Motorsport, who started on pole position, managed the race brilliantly out front, with three safety car restarts to get right. He did just that and the young British rookie would take his maiden Formula 3 victory in Belgium, in the feature race. 

The victory for Voisin's team Rodin Motorsport, would also be their maiden win in FIA Formula 3, since the championship re-branded from GP3 in 2019. At that level, the Rodin outfit had failed to win in the previous 10 years as a team, but that long record was over and Alex Lynn was no longer the most recent winner for that team.

Voisin would take the win ahead of Sebastian Montoya for Campos, who would take his first podium of the 2024 season as the Colombian driver would take second place. Championship contender Leonardo Fornaroli would take third place in a great result for Trident.

Fornaroli with the podium takes over the championship round, heading into the season finale at Monza, at the end of August. Initial championship leader Gabriele Mini would fail to score in the feature race after spinning at turn 1.

After an already fantastic and dramatic weekend of action it would be time for the feature race in Formula 3, to conclude round nine of 10 in the 2024 championship.

On Saturday morning, in the sprint race, it would be Prema's Dino Beganovic who would take victory for his second victory of the season and his Formula 3 career. It would be a Prema 1-2 with championship leader Gabriele Mini finishing in second place.

The great haul of points would give Prema a realistic chance of taking the Teams Championship with a round to spare. Noel Leon finished third for his fourth podium of the season, for Van Amersfoort Racing.

It would be time for racing on Sunday morning for the feature race with Callum Voisin, British driver of Rodin Motorsport starting from pole position. Voisin set a stunning lap in qualifying to take his maiden pole position in FIA Formula 3.

The Rodin Motorsport of Voisin would be on pole and joined on the front row by Irish racer Alex Dunne, of MP Motorsport who will start second on the grid. Voisin would look to be the first driver in FIA Formula 3 to win for the Rodin Motorsport team. Would the Brit be able to do it?

30 cars would be able to take to the grid on a damp Spa Francorchamp circuit, for the penultimate feature race of the season and the final one before the summer break in Belgium. All of the drivers would complete the formation lap and it would be time to go racing.

The light would go out and the race was underway and Voisin would get a good start off the line and he would take the lead of the race as a poor start from Alex Dunne would see him slip to fourth as Sebastian Montoya, who started fourth, would take second into turn 1 as Leonardo Fornaroli was third.

Drama further back at the start of the race would see Gabriele Mini in a spin at turn 1, after contact made with Oliver Goethe of Campos Racing and a nightmare for the championship leader with his two main rivals in top 10 positions.

There were cars struggling for grip though on the slippery track surface as Voisin and Montoya would go wide at Les Combes but they would maintain their positions. 

Start of the second lap and Voisin would lock up into the first corner, giving Montoya a great run on him down to Les Combes, the British driver would be under pressure. Voisin would maintain the lead and would be able to keep ahead of Montoya's Campos.

The safety car would be brought out as Martinius Stenshorne and Tuukka Taponen had collided after spinning in their own separate incidents and would be both out of the race. Stenshorne and Sophia Floersch would cause the first spin. 

At the end of lap 6, the broken Hitech of McLaren junior Stenshorne and the ART of Taponen would be cleared. There would be racing action again as at the start of lap 7 the race was back underway.

Voisin would get a good restart and he would keep the lead from Montoya's Campos with Leonardo Fornaroli in third. Fornaroli's teammate Sami Meguetounif would take fourth from Irish driver Alex Dunne. Racing would fail to be green flag conditions for long as a second safety car would be deployed.

Joseph Loake of Rodin Motorsport and Sophia Floersch of Van Amersfoort Racing would come together, with the Alpine Academy driver Floersch being beached in the gravel and being out of the race. This would cause a two lap stoppage of green flag racing and lap 1 the remaining drivers with going back racing again.

There would be not much green flag racing once again as Voisin made a good restart but Alex Dunne would drop to 10th with a small stint of no power. He would get the car back going at full speed but it would be a race-ruining moment for the McLaren junior.

The safety car would be out once again as two separate incident would occur at turns 8 and 9.. Firstly, in the context of the drivers championship, Christian Mansell and Arvid Lindblad would tangle, with the Red Bull junior of Lindblad being sent into the gravel in his Prema. A nightmare for the championship contender.

In a separate incident, Charlie Wurz would clip the tyre of Mari Boya in the Campos. Boa would lose the car and would find the barriers at turn 9. Thankfully he was okay but the safety car would once again be deployed, for the third time in the race. Wurz would pit for a front wing change but in doing so would speed in the pit lane. A five-second time penalty would be given,

The restart would get underway for the start of lap 14 out of 15 and there would be two laps of racing, at the end of the feature race in Belgium. Voisin would once again nail the restart ahead of Montoya in second place.

On the run to Les Combes, a great run from Noel Leon on Sami Meguetounif and the an Amersfoort of Leon would get ahead of Trident and the Mexican driver would be up into fourth place.

Onto the final lap, and the pressure would be being hounded on Callum Voisin by Montoya but the Rodin Motorsport driver in the lead would have all of the answers out in front. 

At the GP3 and Formula 3 level, it had been 10 years since the Rodin Motorsport outfift, formerly of Carlin, as Alex Lynn would be the winner for the team on that day. They had never managed to win in FIA Formula 3, since the championship re-brand in 2019. That was all to change.

Out front, Callum Voisin of Rodin Motorsport would manage everything in the race including three safety car restarts to perfect and out of the final few corners he would see the chequered flag first, from the race control tower.

Voisin would make a fantastic piece of history for himself and the team as the British rookie would come across the line for his maiden win in the FIA Formula 3 Championship but it would also be a maiden win in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for Rodin Motorsport in a memorable and historic day for the outfit.

British driver Voisin would also see off Sebastian Montoya of Campos Racing who would come across the line in second place, for his first podium of the season. Leonardo Fornaroli would take a crucial third place for Trident, as with Gabriele Mini out of the points, Fornaroli would take over the championship lead. 

Noel Leon would finish fourth for Van Amersfoort Racing in another splendid drive from the Mexican as Trident's Sami Meguetounif would complete the top five. Luke Browning would finish in sixth place for Hitech Pulse-Eight ahead of Max Esterson in seventh for Jenzer Motorsport. Santiago Ramos, Tim Tramnitz and Alex Dunne would complete the top 10.

With no points for ART, who had to score 27 points in the race to keep the championship fight alive in the Teams Standings, the Teams Championship would be decided. For the fifth time since the championship begun in 2019, Prema have become the Teams champions for 2024 in what has been such a brilliantly consistent season from them.

A great achievement from Prema, who despite neither of their three drivers scoring a point, they had been able to clinch the title with a race to spare.

After so much drama at Spa Francorchamps, Formula 3 has a very close championship fight for the drivers prize with one round to go, coming at the Monza circuit, in Italy, at the end of August.

Just 29 points separate the top five in the championship heading into the season finale of the 2024 championship at Monza in Italy with Leonardo Fornaroli having a one point adavantage over Gabriele Mini, who came into the Belgium round with the championship lead.

There will be over a month with no action for the summer break for the teams, drivers and media alike. The season finale will be between August 31 and September 02. In Monza at the end of August and the start of September, the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship will be decided.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

After a chaotic Formula 3 sprint race on Saturday morning at Spa Francorchamps in Belgium, all three Trident drivers were among the nine drivers handed post-race penalties by the Stewards.

All three Trident cars in Leonardo Fornaroli, Sami Meguetounif and Santiago Ramos were among nine drivers which included Martinius Stenshorne and Luke Browning of Hitech Pulse-Eight, Mari Boya of Campos Racing, Alexander Dunne of MP Motorsport, Charlie Wurz of Jenzer Motorsport and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak of AIX Racing.

The nine drivers were penalised after the Formula 3 sprint race in Belgium, with track limits being at the centre of the reasons for the penalties handed out amongst the nine drivers,

In the Saturday morning sprint race, a controlled performance from Prema driver Dino Beganovic who would take his second win of the season in a very calm Prema 1-2, albeit in tricky conditions. Beganovic would finish ahead of teammate Gabriele Mini, the championship leader.

Firstly, all three Trident drivers in Fornaroli, Meguetounif and Ramos would all be handed time penalties after the race for track limit violations.

Meguetounif had already been handed 30 seconds worth of time penalties for track limits during the feature race. In addition to the 30 seconds, Meguetounif would be handed a five-second time penalty for the additional track limits infringement.

He would have an unchanged position in the final classification, from the provisional classification, in 28th place. It would be 35-seconds worth of time penalties due to exceeding track limits on 10 separate occasions.

The other Trident drivers in Leonardo Fornaroli and Santiago Ramos were handed time penalties, alongisde their teammate Sami Meguetounif, Fornaroli was handed a five second time penalty alongside with his teammate Ramos, as both drivers had exceeded track limits on four separate occasions each.

​ Therefore, with the penalties applied, Fornaroli would drop from eighth to ninth while Ramos would drop from fifth to eighth. A track limit headache for the Trident team, post-race at Spa Francorchamps.

Over at Hitech, their drivers Luke Browning and Martinius Stenshorne would be punished by the Stewards, after the race, for track limit violations.

Browning of Williams Academy would receive 10 seconds worth of time penalties after the race due to having been found to have exceeded track limits on five separate occasions. The 10-second time penalty would see the driver second in the championship drop from seventh to 12th, therefore out of the points. A nightmare for the British driver.

As for the McLaren junior of Martinius Stenshorne, he would receive just a five-second penalty for track limit violations, in comparison to his Hitech Pulse-Eight teammate Luke Browning. Stenshorne would exceed track limits on four separate occasions and therefore would be handed a five-second time penalty, dropping him to 18th overall, in the final classification.

Over at Campos Racing, Spanish driver Mari Boya would be handed a lot of five-second time penalties after the race, amounting to a 25-second time penalty overall. After the sprint race at Spa Francorchamps, by the Stewards, Boya would be found to have exceeded track limits on eight separate occasions. Due to the 25-second time penalty, Boya would drop to 28th in the final classification, behind Meguetounif.

Charlie Wurz of Jenzer Motorsport would be handed a five-second time penalty by the Stewards for track limits also. Wurz would be handed a five-second penalty for exceeding track limits on four separate occasions during the sprint race. Therefore, the Jenzer Motorsport driver would remain in 26th place, despite the penalties.

At Van Amersfoort Racing, Australian driver Tommy Smith would be handed a 10-second time penalty, which was amounted up from two five-second time penalties after the sprint race in Belgium.

Smith , after the race by the Stewards, was found to have exceeded the track limits on five separate occasions. As a result, Smith would pick up 10 seconds worth of a time penalty and the Van Amersfoort driver would drop from 18th to 25th in the final classification.

McLaren junior driver Alex Dunne would also be handed 10 seconds worth of time penalties after the sprint race at Spa Francorchamps, for MP Motorsport. Dunne would pick up two five-second time penalties for exceeding the track limits on five separate occasions which would see the total penalty amount up to 10 seconds. With the penalty applied, Dunne would drop to 23rd in the final classification from 14th.

Finally, AIX Racing's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak would be handed 10 seconds worth of time penalties after the sprint race in Belgium.The 10 seconds would go alongside the 10-second time penalty that Inthraphuvasak picked up during the race for track limits. The total time penalties would amount to 20 seconds worth but would keep the Thailand driver in 29th in classification.

After all the penalties handed out post-race, the drivers, teams and Stewards will be hoping there are less track limit infringements when FIA Formula 3 goes racing for the penultimate feature race of the season on Sunday morning at the Spa Francorchamps circuit, on Grand Prix Sunday in Belgium.

The feature race will commence with Great Britain's Callum Voisin on pole position and Alex Dunne of the Republic of Ireland joining him on the front row. Lights out will be 08:30 track time, which is 07:30am UK time.

Drivers highlighted in red were awarded time penalties and due to these have been classified in these positions.

​

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

​

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal

Ferrari junior driver and Prema talent Dino Beganovic claimed his second win of the season in the Belgium sprint race at Spa Francorchamps, on Saturday morning.

The sprint race would see 12 laps of racing and a Prema 1-2 with Beganovic converting pole position into victory. A great result for Prema who would look to secure the Teams Championship title this weekend at Spa Francorchamp, with a round to spare.

Beganovic would take victory ahead of his teammate Gabriele Mini, who would finish second and pick up a great amount of championship points over his rivals. The Alpine Academy driver would hold the championship lead coming into the round.

Noel Leon for Van Amersfoort Racing would finish third for his fourth podium of the season and his second in consecutive races.

With his second win of the season, Beganovic is up to fifth in the standings within 28 points of his Prema teammate Gabriele Mini who leads the way

It would be Saturday of the penultimate round of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 championship season for round nine of 10 taking place before the summer break at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.

Saturday morning in a Formula 3 weekend often has the sprint race in store and that is exactly what awaited the championship in Belgium after a Friday full of drama with the practice and qualifying sessions taking place.

In the qualifying, it would be a maiden pole position in Formula 3 for Rodin Motorsport's Callum Voisin, who put in a great lap, in a thrilling end to the session ahead of Irish MP Motorsport driver Alex Dunne who qualified second.

For the sprint race grid, the top 12 would be reversed from the qualifying session on Friday, meaning for the second sprint race in a row Dino Beganovic of Prema would start from reverse grid pole. Beganovic would start alongside his Prema teammate and the championship leader Gabriele Mini.


Sami Meguetounif of Trident, Mari Boya of Campos, Matias Zagazeta and Charlie Wurz of Jenzer Motorsport, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak of AIX Racing and Tuukka Taponen on his Formula 3 debut for ART would all take grid penalties.

After the formation lap it would be time to go racing with all 30 cars taking to the grid for the penultimate sprint race of the season. 

The lights would go out and the race was underway and a great start from championship leader Gabriele Mini and the Alpine Academy driver would take the lead from his Prema teammate into the first corner.

Racing would be green through most of the first two sectors before there would be a safety car, as at the top of Raidillon, the Jenzer motorsport of Max Esterson would lose control on a slippery surface and would head into the barriers. Thankfully Esterson was okay, and all drivers avoided him.

At the safety car interval, Arvid Lindblad had made it up to 16th from 27th on the grid. A great start from the Red Bull junior and championship contender. 

End of lap 3, for the start of lap 4 and the race could get back to green flag and racing conditions, and an initial good restart from Mini looked good into turn 1 at La Source. However, Beganovic had a much better exit and got a good run on his Prema teammate down the Kemmel Straight.

With a smart move around the outside of Mini, Beganovic would take the lead. Further back, Noel Leon of Van Amersfoort Racing would make a move up into fifth place ahead of Luke Browning, with a fantastic pass on the championship contender.

Browning was struggling for grip and would be slipping down through the order and on consecutive laps would lose a place to Campos' Sebastian Montoya and then Trident's Sami Meguetounif who would find a way through. Meguetounif would be forced off the track with him and Browning going off. It would be noted by Race Control as forcing another driver off the track.

Noel Leon had been showing some good pace throughout the race and after pursuing for many laps, the Trident of fellow Mexican driver Santiago Ramos, Leon wold find a way through and the Van Amersfoort car would be up into fourth.

Onto lap 10 of the 12 lap sprint race and Tim Tramnitz in third had been pressuring Gabriele Mini and thought of a move down into Les Combes at turn 5, but would be unable to make the move complete as a great defence from Mini maintained him second place.

On the final lap and Tramnitz ended up falling back into the clutches of Leon but with a move down the Kemmel Straight and would take third place on the final lap on the race for what would be a second podium in consecutive races.

Dino Beganovic out in front had managed to get ahead of Mini at the safety car restart and showed great pace throughout the race to manage the gap to Mini and not become too under pressure. For the second time in 2024 and the second time in his Formula 3 career, he would take victory in a race.

Beganovic would see the chequered flag first and would come across the line first to get what could be a huge win in the championship fight come the end of the season. It would be a Prema 1-2 as Gabriele Mini, the championship leader, would get a great haul of points for his championship ambitions and Prema's.

Prema's 1-2 result could help them in wrapping up the Teams championship at Spa Francorchamps, before the final round at Monza in September. In third place would be Noel Leon for Van Amersfoort Racing.

The Mexican driver took his fourth podium of the season. MP Motorsport's Tim Tramnitz was fourth with Santiago Ramos completing the top five in fifth place. Luke Browning was sixth for Hitech, just pipping Campos' Sebastian Montoya, who would settle for seventh initially.

Leonardo Fornaroli would finish eighth for Trident, with Campos' Oliver Goethe finished ninth after a post-race time penalty for Sami Meguetounif, for track limits, and saw him drop out of the top 10. Sunday's feature race pole sitter Callum Voisin completed the top 10.

Gabriele Mini has extended his lead in the championship to eight points over Luke Browning who is second in the standings. 28 points separated the top five in the standings at the provisional result, at the end of the sprint race.

Round nine action of the Formula 3 Championship will return for the Sunday morning feature race with Great Britain's Callum Voisin starting on pole in the feature race, for the first time in FIA Formula 3. Action will begin at 08:30am track time, which will be 07:30am UK time.

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal

After Formula 3 qualifying on Friday afternoon, six drivers were handed a grid penalty for Saturday morning's sprint race at Spa Francorchamps, in Belgium.

Among the six drivers who have been handed grid penalties for the sprint race is debut driver at ART Grand Prix Tuukka Taponen who would collect a grid penalty for his first race in FIA Formula 3 career.

Taponen would be joined by Sophia Floersch, Sami Meguetounif, Charlie Wurz, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Mari Boya in receiving a grid penalty for Saturday morning's sprint race for round nine of 10 in the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship.

It would be a dramatic qualifying session with Callum Voisin of Rodin Motorsport and Great Britain taking pole position, and his maiden one in FIA Formula 3.

Firstly, Taponen was handed a grid penalty for the sprint race on Saturday due to the driver from Finland to have found to have been impeding Irish driver of MP Motorsport, Alex Dunne.

Taponen would be investigated after the Friday qualifying for allegedly impeding multiple cars at turn 18, on the racing line. The cars that had he ad impeded were on flying laps and had a great chance of improving on their personal best lap times.

After the Stewards had spoke to Taponen and his ART team represntative as well as reviewing all relevant data and video evidence of the reported incident, it was determined that Taponen was driving at a marginally slower speed on the racing line for about nine seconds. This would therefore be against the Race Director's Event Notes.

As a result of being found to have impeded in the session and would subsequently be handed a three-place grid penalty for the next race of which he competes in, which will be Taponen's debut race in Formula 3 at Spa Francorchamps.

For the same reason as each other, the remaining five drivers would also be handed grid penalties for the Saturday morning sprint race. Sami Meguetounif, Sophia Floersch, Mari Boya, Charlie Wurz and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak have all been handed grid penalties.for the sprint race, for the same infringement.

At the end of qualifying, there would be a huge traffic jam in the final few minutes, with a traffic forming at the final two corners of the circuit, with drivers wanting to get on with the laps as they would be aiming to set improved lap times to get themselves in better positions for the races.

In their eagerness to get ahead of the queuing traffic, Floersch of Van Amersfoort, Meguetounif of Trident, Boya of Campos, Wurz of Jenzer and Inthraphuvasak of AIX Racing were all accused of overtaking the slow cars of the circuit. Therefore it would be classed as leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

After the session, the FIA Race Event Stewards reviewed all video evidence from the shenanigans that went on in the latter stages of the session. The Stewards would then speak to each of the five drivers and their respective team representatives.

In their investigations, the Stewards determined that all five drivers had gone off the circuit in the final minute of qualifying to gain track positions and overtook many cars off the circuit, therefore gaining an advantage.

Inthraphuvasak, Boya, Floersch, Wurz and Meguetounif would all be handed a three-place grid penalty each that would be served in the next race of which those drivers are to compete in. That race will be Saturday morning's sprint race.

These penalties will all be joined by a five-place grid drop for Matias Zagazeta, who received his penalty for causing a collision with Arvid Lindblad in the Hungary feature race. 

A sprint race that will see a Prema front row lockout as for the second round in a row Dino Beganovic will start from reverse grid pole position. This time around at Spa Francorchamps he will have championship leader Gabriele Mini starting alongside him, on the front row.

The race will commence at 09:50 track time which will be 08:50 UK time.

All drivers highlighted in red start in those positions due to grid penalties

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

​

Brandon Whiteside

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.

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.
​

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal