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Formula 3 began the first qualifying session of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix weekend in Imola with a close battle for pole position.
A general view of the pitlane during practice ahead of Round 3 Imola of the Formula 3 Championship at Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari on May 17, 2024 in Imola, Italy. (Image Credit: James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)What happened in Imola so far?
Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe dominated Free Practice at Imola, setting the fastest time of 1:32.047. Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning finished second, trailing by 0.3 seconds, while Mari Boya secured third place for Campos Racing.
The session began quietly, with Joseph Loake of Rodin Motorsport initially leading with a 1:36.795. PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad later set a new benchmark of 1:33.784, followed by Christian Mansell of ART Grand Prix in second place.
Gabriele Minì briefly led before Charlie Wurz of Jenzer Motorsport clocked a 1:33.268 to take the top spot. ART’s Nikola Tsolov was just 0.004 seconds behind in second. A Red Flag briefly halted the session after Campos Racing’s Sebastian Montoya crashed at Turn 15. Upon resumption, Max Esterson of Jenzer Motorsport led before Browning’s 1:32.367 lap.
Goethe then outpaced everyone with a 1:32.047, securing the fastest time. A second Red Flag, caused by Piotr Wisnicki’s crash at Turn 9, ended the session prematurely.
Following Free Practice at Round 3 of the F3 season in Imola, Callum Voisin of Rodin Motorsport and Nikola Tsolov of ART Grand Prix received grid penalties. Both drivers were penalized for not respecting minimum ECU times during Red Flag conditions, breaching Article 31.9 of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Sporting Regulations.
After reviewing evidence and hearing from the drivers and team representatives, the Stewards issued each a three-place grid penalty to be served at their next race.
The fast laps began…
The 30 minutes of qualifying started to tick down.
On average, the young drivers drove two fast laps prepared by precise warm-up laps.
Gabriele Minì initially took the grid lead with a 1:32.598, followed by Leonardo Fornaroli. Rodin Motorsport’s Joseph Loake drove a bit over the gravel on the way into the Tamborello corner, which will be seen more often this weekend.
Laurent van Hoepen was just behind the top two with +0.172 – the times were extremely close, especially at the front. Short yellow flags flashed repeatedly until Callum Voisin got stuck in the gravel in sector 1, triggering a red flag.
Red flag ?
Callum Voisin spins coming out of turn 3 and ends up in the gravel on the outside of Variante Tamburello#F3 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/a2HDbCo38o
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) May 17, 2024
After the red flag
With 15 minutes left on the clock, the riders who had not yet managed a fast lap also set their first times – but nobody seemed to be able to match Minì’s time.
Luke Browning also only reached 5th place at first, while Oliver Goethe set a 1.32.517 – and thus initially finished on provisional pole.
Mattias Zagazeta also had a short off in turns two and three but managed to catch the car.
Before the final run, the drivers were fitted with new tyres so that faster times could be expected.
Boya and Tim Tramnitz were noted by the stewards for impeding, and no further action was decided.
The final minutes
Alex Dunne, one of the new junior drivers at McLaren, set a 1:32.3 to finish second. Juan Pablo Montoya’s son, Sebastian Montoya, tended to be at the back of the field before his last fast lap – 24th place so far.
The only woman in the field, Sophia Flörsch, was initially in 26th place but prepared her final attempt to move up the field.
The traffic with 30 drivers in Formula 3 was also a problem in this qualifying session – the slow driving before the start and finish straight was particularly noticeable.
The first fast times of the last fast laps came in, and Arvid Lindblad took first place with a 1:32.109, followed by Dino Beganovic and Fornaroli.
Looking at 12th place, from which the driver will start first place in the sprint race due to the reversed grid rule, Tim Tramnitz initially held on.
Fornaroli’s last fast lap of the session put him in the lead with a 1:31.820. However, Santiago Ramos was 0.053 seconds faster and was initially awarded provisional pole.
Sami Meguetounif completed the first three places, which were exclusively taken by Trident drivers. Lindblad finished qualifying in fourth place, and Alex Dunne in fifth.
Final results
- Ramos
- Fornaroli
- Meguetounif
- Lindblad
- Dunne
- Beganovic
- Minì
- Goethe
- van Hoepen
- Browning
- Tramnitz
- Leon
- Sztuka
- Boya
- Bedrin
- Tsolov
- Wurz
- Mansell
- Zagazeta
- Stenshorne
- Voisin
- Floersch
- Loake
- Esterson
- Montoya
- Shields
- Smith
- Wisnicki
- Inthraphuvasak
- Dufek
Feature Image Credit: James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images