 ART's Alpine Academy driver Nikola Tsolov made history on the streets of Monte Carlo to take his first win in FIA Formula 3, in Saturday's sprint race. Tsolov became the first Bulgarian driver in GP3 and Formula 3 history to stand on a podium in the category. He finished four seconds ahead of Mp Motorsport's Tim Tramnitz who was second. Tsolov's ART teammate Laurens Van Hoepen was third to complete the podium. The race saw a red flag at the start, which saw five drivers retire and by the chequered flag, nine drivers failed to make it. Italian Leonardo Fornaroli, the championship leader, finished ninth for Trident. How the Monaco Formula 3 sprint unfoldedFIA Formula 3 would race in Monaco for just the second time since its birth in 2019 and last year it produced two race winners. Josep Maria Marti won the sprint race, while Gabriele Mini would win the Sunday feature race after he started from pole position. The Alpine Academy driver would repeat his 2023 qualifying performance in 2024, as on Friday he would take pole in the grouped qualifying, as his time was quicker than the other group's fastest driver Christian Mansell. Due to Nikola Tsolov being the sixth fastest in the slower group, he would get reverse grid pole for the sprint on Saturday. He would have his ART teammate Laurens Van Hoepen alongside him on the front row of the grid. It was time to go racing around the streets of Monte Carlo, as the formation lap got going with all cars apart from Joshua Dufek and debut driver James Hedley got away slowly but did not have to be pushed back into the pits and could join up with the rest of the field. Nikita Bedrin in the pits and 29 cars on the grid as the lights went out as pole sitter Tsolov got a good start, as Van Hoepen didn't and lost a place to the MP Motorsport of TIm Tramnitz who got a good start. All got through Saint-Devote unscathed but it would not last up the hill. Arvid Lindblad squeezed Christian Mansell on his left at Casino Square and as a result Lindblad was tagged round. Both of them were out of the races as a result. Alex Dunne, Cian Shields and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak followed the path of Mansell and ended up behind him. Dunne and Shields were out of the race, while Inthraphuvasak managed to get going. During the incident, Josh Dufek had incurred damage at Casino Square and it was terminal. He was out there and then, and rather unsurprisingly with cars piled up, the safety car was deployed. The safety car would not be needed for long as a red flag was introduced, with all the drivers heading back to the pits. Tsolov maintained the race lead before the red flag, while the biggest gainers at the start were Max Esterson and Callum Voisin who had made up six places. After a significant delay, the race would get restarted at 11:15 local time with a rolling start procedure after the superb marshals had cleared the cars and debris from the opening lap incident. At 11:15, the safety car would lead the pack out of the pits to get this restarted. Nikola Tsolov, the race leader would have to back the pack up, until the safety car reached the pit lane and get the race back under way. At Rascasse, Tsolov bolted and headed down the start/finish straight and maintained the lead, as all the top three (Tsolov, Tramnitz and Van Hoepen) maintained position. The end of the first full racing lap saw the enabling of DRS. The drivers could use it within one second of the car ahead in the DRS zone down into Saint-Devote. It would be tricky as the narrow straights make overtaking difficult around Monaco. Alex Dunne would be noted for speeding in the pit lane infringement before the race had started. He could not be awarded an in-race penalty as he was already out. Lap 7 and Tramnitz was a second back on Tsolov, who looked relatively comfy out front but there was still a long way in the race to go. Sophia Floersh received a 10-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage after cutting Saint-Devote and gaining positions.James Hedley, making his race debut at Jenzer Motorsport would also receive a penalty. This would be a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane. With the race moving onto lap 10 and Gabriele Mini in 11th was under continued pressure from Imola feature race winner Sami Meguetounif but after a poor lap he dropped almost within DRS range of the Alpine liveried Prema. Joseph Loake was running in fifth for Rodin Motorsport, the only team without points in 2024 FIA Formula 3 going into the sprint race and after his best qualifying on Friday, Loake was looking in a strong position to score his first and his team's first points of the season. Out front on lap 13 and Tsolov was very pacey. A couple of overtakes were happening into Saint Devote. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak got up into 21st overtaking Hedley, who was having a far from smooth opening race. Meanwhile, Sebastian Motoya in his Campos got ahead of Inthraphuvasak's teammate Nikita Bedrin for 23rd. An incident would come about, seeing Kacper Sztuka retire with a puncture at Saint-Devote, that was picked up in a collision with Sophia Floersch - who was having a nightmare race for Van Amersfoort. Sztuka could not get the car going and the safety car was deployed, while the car was moved. Floersch, with front wing damage would come into the pits, but she ended up retiring the car.. Tsolov got away once again as the safety car was withdrawn, but would later be noted for weaving at the restart. He maintained the lead but could have faced a penalty, that's why his team told him to push, as they thought the penalty might be five seconds. Tsolov was showing great pace but might have had Tim Tramnitz to thank, who was unintentionally holding the field up as Tsolov had pulled the gap to 4.4 seconds with two laps remaining. An incident during the race between Piotr Wisnicki and Martinius Stenshorne would be investigated for causing a collision and Wisnicki would be handed a 10-second penalty for the incident. Out front, Tsolov was simply brilliant out front and had great pace at safety car restarts. He becomes the first Bulgarian to score a podium finish, let alone a victory, in GP3 and FIA Formula 3 history. He won the race ahead of MP Motorsport rookie Tim Tramnitz, who was second to take his third podium of the season. Laurens Van Hopen added another podium to his collection in third. Tsolov would be cleared of any wrongdoing and therefore would keep the win. Noel Leon was fourth for Van Amersfoort ahead of young Brit Joseph Loake who scored his first points in FIA Formula 3 and Rodin Motorsport's first points of the season. Mari Boya was sixth for Campos Racing, while Dino Beganovic was seventh - the only scoring Prema. Luke Browning was eighth ahead of points leader Leonardo Fornaroli in ninth. Fornaroli's lead has been cut down in the standings to one point going into Sunday's feature race. Oliver Goethe rounded off the top 10. After a fantastic amount of action, with a huge incident at the start and drama throughout, Formula 3 has definitely served up a special race and one that Nikola Tsolov would cherish forever, breaking records for himself and his country. Action would return on Sunday for the feature race. 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship: Round 4 - Monaco Sprint Race provisional classification
 Brandon Whiteside
Writer - f1journal.co.uk
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