The Monaco round is always dramatic, but in F3 there’s only a Prince: Minì.
It’s been a crazy F3 weekend in Monaco. The historic circuit once again changed the drivers standing, not without surprises. Here are 5 things maybe you’ve lost that happened in Monaco.
1. Racing in the rain
The F3 started the weekend on track on Thursday, when they did the practice. Unfortunately, it was a unique session… a rainy session. There were rumbles of thunder as the session got underway, though the drops of rain didn’t warrant a move away from dry tyres. With 24 minutes to go, the skies growing darker still as Minì led the way with a 1:27.400, then the rain began to fall though just as the first flying laps began. After one of the red flags of the weekend, drivers ventured back out fitted with the wet tyres as the rain intensified, preventing any further improvements.
A session that only in part was useful for the teams.
2. Red flags
It is known that the streets of Monte Carlo do not admit mistakes. All it takes is one distraction or too much aggression, and the weekend can be ruined. If in F1 it is practically impossible to overtake – and the race was a proof of that – the other categories have a few more chances. That is why there are many attempts, as unfortunately are also the red flags. There has not been an event on the track where F3 has not been interrupted by multiple incidents.
Episodes
In the practice, there were 3 red flags. One was brought out early because Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak went off into the barriers at Sainte Devote. After the resumed session, the practice thought another Red Flag as Callum Voisin repeated Inthraphuvasak’s incident at Turn 1 to halt the session once more. Same place, different conditions, but same results: the third red flag was caused by Sami Meguetounif, who found the barriers with the rain.
The red flags also determined the qualifying results. During group B, just as the first flying laps were about to get underway, James Hedley went into the barriers at Turn 1, losing his front wing and bringing out the Red Flags. The others were brought out with less than a minute remaining because of Sebastián Montoya and Charlie Wurz, so the session was not resumed. It was a shame for Dino Beganovic, who was doing his best lap.
In the Sprint Race, it’s shown during the first lap. Coming through Casino Square, a contact between Christian Mansell and Arvid Lindblad put both into the wall. Their clash left Joshua Dufek, Alex Dunne, and Cian Shields, unable to avoid a collision behind. With five cars needing to be cleared, a Red Flag followed the previous Safety Car.
The Feature Race was dramatic, but there weren’t red flags. The safety car has been the protagonist: it went on track 3 times.
3. Making history
History was made in Monaco. Winning the Sprint Race, Nikola Tsolov became the 1st Bulgarian driver finished on the podium in F3 and predecessor series GP3.
A victory came 559 days after his last one in the 2022 Spanish F4 season. It’s only his second points finish of the 2024 F3 season after he previously finished fourth in the sprint race in Bahrain. Tsolov didn’t start well. He was in the eye of the cyclone because of the incident in Australia. He wasn’t banned, but everyone agreed that his move was too dangerous.
His victory came 559 days after his last win in the 2022 Spanish F4 season, which Tsolov dominated by taking 13 wins and 18 total podiums from 21 races.
After the race, Nikola said in the press conference:
“I think it is a step outside of the hole where I’ve been stuck in the past year and a half where I just couldn’t get a good result. You try every race, and then there’s something wrong, I make a mistake, or something else. So now, just putting it all together for once, I think it’s the first step to finding the rhythm of having good results every race.”
4. Rookies highlights
In these first rounds of the season, some rookies showed they could be in important positions. F3 has talented drivers who are making pressure on the title candidates. In Monaco, as we saw, for the first time, a rookie didn’t win the Sprint Race.
Arvid Lindblad, one of the previous ones, while he had no experience of Monte Carlo prior to this weekend, arrived in the Principality with confidence thanks to the Macau weekend. In fact, the goal had been to raise confidence and adaptability to the street circuits of the calendar, Monaco, the principal weekend in that regard. Unluckily, his Sprint race finished at Turn 1, but thanks to a good qualifying, he arrived 4th at the Feature Race.
Also, Joseph Loake was in a jubilant mood. The Rodin rookie achieved the P8 in Qualifying. It represented the best result of his season so far. It has been a tough learning experience for him, especially after a few tricky sessions in Qualifying earlier in the season. The team found improvements during the in-season testing.
5. Minì: the Prince of Monaco and the King of the F3… for now
Who confirmed his love for the Montecarlo track is Gabriele Minì. In the second year in the F3 Championship, he achieved the second pole and the second victory in Feature Race.
Lucky enough in the qualifying, he showed since the beginning to be the fastest and the most in confidence driver. The Italian kept control at the start and then slowly built his pace, saving his tyres in the early stages to pull away in the end. After the race, he said:
“It’s really emotional. There are many emotions when you win Monaco, especially two years in a row. It is amazing.”
With these results, Minì stormed to the top of the Driver Championship. Leonardo Fornaroli, the previous leader, has gone down in fourth.
