Gabriele Mini wins Formula 3 qualifying in Monaco

Prema team driver Gabriele Mini showed the best time during qualifying for the fourth round of the Formula 3 season in Monaco. ART GP’s Christian Mansell will join him from the front row in Sunday’s race.

Formula 3 came to Monaco for the second time in recent history. The circle of the city circuit is too short (3337 meters), so in order for all 30 riders to complete their attempts without hindering each other, they were divided into two groups, each given 16 minutes. The first “Group A” consisted of riders with even numbers, the second “Group B” – with odd numbers.

The distribution of positions at the start of Sunday’s race has undergone changes due to the qualifying format. The rider from the group whose time is the fastest wins pole position. The fastest rider from the second group will be in second place at the starting line for Sunday’s race, after which the starting positions will alternate between the groups.

The top 12 drivers will form a reverse grid for Saturday’s race – the sixth fastest driver from the second group will start from pole position and the sixth fastest driver from the first group will take second place at the start. The remaining 10 places at the start will be distributed according to a similar principle.

In the first group of qualifications Mini, Fornaroli, Ramos, Stuka, Goethe, Boya, Browning, Shields, Esterson, Leon, Smith, van Heupen, Intrafuvasak, Dufeku and Vishnitzky started for attempts. The sunny weather was conducive to work, so the riders wasted no time in heading straight to the track as soon as the session countdown started.

After completing two warm-up laps, the riders began their fast attempts. Luke Browning was the first to show the estimated time (1:26.170 s), but almost immediately his result was improved by Leonardo Fornaroli – 1:25.963 s. Noel Leon set the third fastest time and lost less than three tenths. The rest lost more than five-tenths of a second to the championship leader on the first attempt.

After the tires cooled in one slow lap, the drivers continued to attack. Browning improved noticeably (1:24.532 s) and topped the protocol. Gabriele Mini moved up to second, but Fornaroli and Leon pushed him back to fourth. Soon Mari Boya intervened in their fight and showed the third time.

Oliver Goethe’s fastest lap hit the barrier with his right front wheel at Turn 15, but the car suffered no visible damage and the MP Motorsport driver was able to continue.

Browning continued to improve and set a new best lap of 1:24.230 s. Mini could not improve its result, but moved up to second place. Fornaroli also improved his time, but could not beat Mini and remained third. Mari Boya was close to pole position, but on the last fast lap he cut the chicane at the exit of the “Bassin” and did not improve.

Browning also ruined his final fastest lap by hitting the wall with his right front wheel. Luke did not complete the lap and returned to the pits. But Gabriele Mini managed to complete a lap clear – with a result of 1:23.942 s, he topped the “Group A” protocol.

After a short break, the participants of “Group B” took to the track: Beganovich, Lindblad, Megetunif, Tramnitz, Dunne, Montoya, Stenshorn, Wurz, Hedley, Floersch, Mansell, Tsolov, Bedrin, Voisin and Louk.

As in the first group, the riders gradually picked up the pace, but just as they were ready to start a very fast lap, red flags appeared on the track. James Hedley, who replaced Matias Zagazeta at this stage, locked his wheels while braking for the first corner and crashed into the protective barrier, breaking the front wing. The drivers returned to the pits, including Hedley.

The break didn’t last long and the “Group B” competitors returned to the track with 10:57 left on the stopwatch until the end of the session. The drivers again had to complete two warm-up laps to prepare their tires for the attempt.

The first benchmark was set by Dino Beganovich – 1:25.569 sec. Mansell set the second fastest time, losing more than two-tenths of a second to the Prema rider. Charlie Wurtz made a mistake braking in the first corner, but his equipment was not damaged – he drove into a “pocket”, after which he returned to the track.

Beganovich continued to improve his time, but first Lindblad and then Mansell (1:24.921 s) displaced Dino from first place.

The riders let their tires cool and started their final attempts. However, with less than a minute to go in the session, red flags appeared on the track again: Charlie Wurtz crashed the car in the first corner.

The session did not resume. The most attacking was for Dino Beganovic, who continued to improve and claim first place, but red flags appeared just as he had already left the last corner on the straight.

The best time in Group B went to Christian Mansell. Based on the results of two qualifying sessions, Gabriele Mini won pole position for Sunday’s race. Nikola Tsolov will start from the first position in Saturday’s sprint.

Group A results

Results group B