Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli has taken pole F3 Feature Race at the 2024 Italian GP on Sunday with a Qualifying time of 1:38:287. He is followed by Alexander Dunne with a 1:38:818 and Gabriele Mini with a 1:38:543.
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The Italian GP marks the final qualifying session of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 season.
With the championship title being a six-way fight, Leo Fornaroli, Gabriele Minì, Luke Browning, Arvid Lindblad, Dino Beganovic and Christian Mansell will all be hoping they can do enough to be crowned champion.
With the Qualifying session being split into two, the FIA Formula 3 drivers’ briefing for Monza was where the groups were decided.
Group A consisted of all even-numbered cars, with Group B consisting of all odd-numbered cars. Each session totalled 20 minutes.
The grid will then be formed by an aggregated result, with the driver with the fastest time starting in Pole Position for the Feature Race on Sunday. The fastest driver in the opposite group will start from P2.
Positions will then alternate between both groups back and forth to fill out the remainder of the grid.
The sixth-fastest car in the second-fastest group will start the Sprint Race from reverse grid Pole, with the driver in sixth from the Pole-sitter’s group taking P2 for the race on Saturday.
With two points available in this Qualifying session and just six points separating the top three in the Drivers’ Standings, a title fight is guaranteed up until Sunday’s Feature Race.
Group A
Leo Fornaroli, Gabriele Minì and Luke Browning, who currently stand at P1, P2 and P3 in the Drivers’ Standings, were all in Group A.
Noah Strømsted was also part of Group A, making his FIA Formula 3 debut as he replaces Oliver Goethe who has stepped into FIA Formula 2.
Max Esterson was the first driver out on track for Jenzer Motorsport, with the rest of the drivers choosing to be patient at this stage.
With 8 minutes to go, the rest of the grid followed Esterton, getting ready to start their first push laps of the session.
It appeared as though none of the drivers wanted to be the first to set a flying lap, causing considerable traffic.
Group A, Red Flag
With just over five minutes to go, the red flag was waved as Laurens van Hoepen for ART Grand Prix experienced a puncture.
This was due to a collision between van Hoepen and Kacper Sztuka at the first Lesmo at the back of the traffic.
This also caused damage to van Hoepen’s front wing and the rear of Sztuka’s car, which caused them both to retire from the session.
Group A, Green Flag
As the green light was shown at the end of the pit lane, Esterson was once again the first driver back out on track with just five minutes to go.
Champion challenging Luke Browning for Hitech Pulse-Eight went P4, setting a time of 1:39:408. However, he quickly tumbled down the order to P6.
Leo Fornaroli took provisional pole with seconds to spare with a time of 1:38:287, closely followed by Gabriele Minì with a time of 1:38:543. Santiago Ramos stood P3 with a 1:38:704 for Trident.
Luke Browning however will start both the Sprint and Feature race from row seven, with a final time of 1:39:124.
Group B
Arvid Lindblad, Dino Beganovic and Christian Mansell, who currently stand P4, P5 and P6 in the Drivers’ Standings, were all in Group B of the F3 Qualifying session of the 2024 Italian GP.
Once again, all the drivers remained patient as the session started, waiting in the pits.
With seven minutes to go, the cars made their way on to the track for their build lap.
Championship contender Mansell was leading the queue, seemingly apprehensive as he did not want to give a tow to the rest of the pack. However, he eventually broke away to set his first flying lap with two minutes left.
Group B, Yellow Flag
The yellow flag was waved in sectors one and two as Martinus Stenshorne came to a halt with one minute left on the clock.
Mansell seemingly aborted his first flying lap, with Nikola Tsolov taking the same decision.
Group B, Green Flag
With many of the drivers only having the opportunity to set one push lap, the times started rolling in.
Alexander Dunne for MP Motorsport took Pole Position in Group B with a time of 1:38:818. He was closely followed by Sami Meguetounif for Trident with a 1:38:860 and Sebastian Montoya for Campos Racing with a 1:38:899.
The Final Grid
Leo Fornaroli takes Pole Position for Sunday’s Feature Race for Trident with a 1:38:287. The Italian is followed by Alexander Dunne for MP Motorsport with a 1:38:818 and Gabriele Minì for PREMA Racing with a 1:38:543.
Featured Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited
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