Formula 3 heads into the season finale with six possible champions!

The top three in the championship (pictured) on media day ahead of the final weekend. Credit: James Sutton via Getty Images

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.

A look at the track: Season finale - Monza, Italy

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.
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Oliver Goethe makes the move to Formula 2 and is replaced by FRECA star

Noah Stromsted (pictured) ahead of his FIA Formula 3 debut at Campos.

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.

Last time out: Round 9 - Belgium

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.

Six can become champion but who will it be?

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

6. Christian Mansell (ART Grand Prix) - 97 points 

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.

5. Dino Beganovic (Prema Racing) - 100 points

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.

4. Arvid Lindblad (Prema Racing) - 113 points

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.

3. Luke Browning (Hitech Pulse-Eight) - 123 points

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.

2. Gabriele Mini (Prema Racing) - 128 points

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.

1. Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident) - 129 points

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.

2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship: Season Finale - Monza, Italy session times

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