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F3 head to Monaco for its fourth round, with a tight battle who prevailed around the prestigious circuit?
The 30 drivers head around the crown jewel circuit, but only one can claim victory, which driver prevailed during Sunday’s feature race. Photo credits: @Formula 3 via X.The fourth round of the season kicks off around the crown jewel.
Qualifying saw Gabriel Miní take a second consecutive pole at Monaco with Mansell and Browning rounding out the top three for the feature race.
The sprint race witnessed a new F3 winner, Nikolas Tsolov taking his maiden F3 win around the prestigious circuit after a chaotic 23 laps.
Can Gabriele Minì make it two Feature Race wins in two years around the streets of Monaco? ?#F3 #MonacoGP pic.twitter.com/RFIuIQu7ck
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) May 26, 2024
How did the feature race unfold around the twisty and tight Monaco Grand Prix?
As it unfolded
As the lights went out, all 30 drivers got away safely, Miní and Mansell were the two who shot off and got a great start to their sprint race. However, the safety car was brought out after the AIX Racing car of Charlie Wurz slid into the barrier on lap 1.
The safety car ended on lap 2, and the drivers once again were let away to race. Miní had a great restart, taking Mansell slightly off guard and building a distance between the pair. However, Mansell was keeping close to the Italian, not letting the Prema out of DRS reach.
Nikita Bedrin locked up at the Nouvelle Chichane causing a puncture early on and had to retreat to the pits.
Up out at the front, Miní was keeping a steady control of the race and building up a gap from the hungry Australian in second. However, the ART driver was chipping away at the gap and bringing it down to less than a second.
Down the pecking order, Browning was running in third, three seconds behind Mansell
Lap 11 saw the race settle down with Miní maintaining his lead. A piece of debris from Alex Dunne’s floor flew onto the circuit, however, was quickly cleared with no safety car having to head out.
Joseph Loake locked up and ran wide at the Nouvelle Chichane, the Briton was feeling the pressure against Mari Boya up in eighth. Loake was able to recover and maintain his position.
Stenshorne was handed a ten second penalty after leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The Norwegian who was running in 28th dropped down further after heading into the pit lane to serve his penalty – a difficult weekend for the McLaren academy driver.
The race settles down
With 17 laps down, Miní was keeping control of the race, successfully escaping out of DRS range from Mansell. Browning was keeping ahold of the top two, sitting 1.8 seconds behind the Australian.
A safety car was brought out after a three-car pile up on lap 20 occurred, Megetounif, Tsolov and Leon were the drivers involved with the incident though the pair were able to keep their engines running, Megetounif unfortunately wasn’t able to and had to retire from the race. This significantly hindered Stenshorne’s race who was held up at the corner as Leon reversed.
Lap 22 saw the safety car head into the pits and Miní once again had an excellent get away, within a lap later the Italian was out of DRS range. Down the pecking order, however, Van Hoepen hits the barrier and brings out the race’s second safety car. A tough end to the Dutchman’s weekend.
With one lap remaining it was a final lap shootout in Monaco. Mansell was running closely behind the Italian and when the restart happened, Miní shot ahead of the Australian and was able to escape from the pressure of the ART driver. Browning was now running within four tenths within Mansell, the Briton looking to grab extra championship points wasn’t letting the driver out of his site, however, he wasn’t able to make the final move.
Miní crossed the line and secured a second consecutive victory at Monaco, an incredible weekend for the Alpine junior. Mansell and Browning round out the top three around Monaco.
Heading into round five, Browning once again leads the championship, can the Briton build on his lead?
The top 10
1 – Mini
2 – Mansell
3 – Browning
4 – Lindblad
5 – Fornaroli
6 – Beganovic
7 – Boya
8 – Tramnitz
9 – Loake
10 – Goethe
Full results can be found here.
Featured image credits: @Formula3 on X