Trident driver Leonardo Fornaroli has become the 2024 Formula 3 champion, with teammate Sami Megetunif winning the final race of the season in Monza.
Sunday morning the young riders were greeted with sunny weather. Pole holder Fornaroli kept the lead at the start, but on the straight before Parabolica Alex Dunne attacked the championship leader and took the lead.
On lap twenty-two, Sami Megetunif attacked Gabriele Mini for third place, passing the Prema rider, who was second in the individual classification. Another title contender, Luke Browning, moved up to eleventh.
On the third lap Fornaroli tried to attack Dunne in the first corner, but Alex retained the lead.
At the Ascari chicane on the same third lap, Luke Browning, in an attempt to gain another position, lost control of the car and flew into the gravel, causing a chain reaction that resulted in a collision between Kean Shields, Sophia Floersch and Matthias Zagazeta. The safety car was brought out.
Luke Browning reached the pits under his own power, changed the front wing and was the last to return to the track.
The restart took place on lap seven. Alex Dunne retained the lead, while Meaney passed Christian Mansell to fourth. But in Ascari, Fornaroli made a mistake, went off track and came back fifth behind Mini. On lap eight, in a head-to-head battle between the two title contenders, Fornaroli overtook Mini at the entrance to Ascari.
On lap ten, Sami Megetunif attacked Dunne at the first corner and took the lead of the race. On lap eleven, Dunne lost another position and dropped to third, passing Mansell.
On the thirteenth lap the battle between the two contenders for the title continued. Mini indicated an attack attempt in the first turn, but did not yet take any active action. Fornaroli did not wait to be overtaken, and on the fifteenth lap he attacked Dunna in the first corner and moved up to third place.
Mini refused to give up and on the sixteenth lap he also overtook Dunne, continuing the pursuit of Fornaroli.
On lap 18, Fornaroli, with smoke billowing from his locked tyres, overtook Mansell under braking for the first corner. Ahead of Ascari, Mansell dropped to fourth, behind Mini.
On lap 20, Mini attacked Fornaroli before the second chicane, but the Trident driver defended second place. On the following lap, Mini’s attack at the first corner was successful and he moved up to second place. At the second chicane, Fornaroli also let Mansell pass, which brought Mini to a virtual first place in the individual standings.
On the last lap Fornaroli made desperate attempts to overtake Mansell in every corner, and at Parabolica he was able to pass Christian and move up to third place. This result was enough for the victory at the end of the season. The fate of the Formula 3 championship was decided in the last corner of the last race of the season! Fornaroli became champion with a two-point lead over Gabriele Mini.
Sami Megetunif confidently led the race to his second win of the season. An extra point for the best lap was awarded to Martinius Stenshorn, who finished sixth. Another title contender, Luke Browning, finished fourteenth and earned no points.
The results are being prepared
Source: F1 News
I am Christopher Clyde, an experienced journalist and content writer with a passion for sports. I have been writing about Formula 1 news for the past five years and am currently employed as an author at athletistic.com, one of the top sports websites in the US.
