Formula3 Breaking news, exclusive interviews & reports - Motorsport Week https://www.motorsportweek.com/tag/formula3/ Motorsport Week is an independent, FIA accredited motorsport website delivering the latest Formula 1, Formula E, GP2, GP3, WEC, IndyCar, Nascar, Formula 3, WRC, WRX, DTM, IMSA and MotoGP news and results. Mon, 07 Oct 2024 15:31:37 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.7.2 https://www.motorsportweek.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cropped-favicon-1-32x32.png Formula3 Breaking news, exclusive interviews & reports - Motorsport Week https://www.motorsportweek.com/tag/formula3/ 32 32 Rodin announce Louis Sharp for Formula 3 seat in 2025 https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/10/04/rodin-announce-louis-sharp-for-formula-3-seat-in-2025/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/10/04/rodin-announce-louis-sharp-for-formula-3-seat-in-2025/#respond Fri, 04 Oct 2024 12:30:26 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=181526

Rodin Motorsport has announced GB3 Champion Louis Sharp will drive for the team in the FIA Formula 3 championship in 2025. The British-born New Zealander graduates to F3 after a successful GB3 campaign in which he won five races, with a further five podiums, taking the title at the final round at Brands Hatch last […]

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Rodin Motorsport has announced GB3 Champion Louis Sharp will drive for the team in the FIA Formula 3 championship in 2025.

The British-born New Zealander graduates to F3 after a successful GB3 campaign in which he won five races, with a further five podiums, taking the title at the final round at Brands Hatch last weekend.

Sharp had previously won the British F4 title with Rodin Carlin in 2022, and joins esteemed company such as Daniel Ricciardo, George Russell and Lando Norris who enjoyed relationships with the manufacturer in their junior years.

In a statement, Sharp said: “I’m obviously excited to be making the next step up to FIA Formula 4 – even more so as I’m back with Rodin Motorsport which has been such an important factor in all my successes to date.

“Though I’m still coming to terms with what I’ve achieve winning back-to-back titles, I’m already starting to concentrate on what’s ahead.

“I’m really looking forward to be racing alongside Grands Prix in 2026 and will do everything I can to maintain my current momentum.

“I’m now looking forward to starting my F3 preparations later this month in Spain and confident both the team and I will be ready hen the lights go out in Australia.”

Rodin owner David Dicker said that Sharp “has been such an exciting young talent to watch develop over the years” and was “looking forward to seeing him back out on track.”

Sharp also received praise from the F3 Team Manager Sam Waple, who said: “Having the new chassis will provide a level playing field for the rookies and Louis has shown throughout his British F4 and GB3 campaigns how quickly he adapt to new cars and tracks.

“We are really looking forward to working with Louis once again.”

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McLaren Junior Ugo Ugochukwu promoted by Prema to F3 for 2025 https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/10/01/mclaren-junior-ugo-ugochukwu-promoted-by-prema-to-f3-for-2025/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/10/01/mclaren-junior-ugo-ugochukwu-promoted-by-prema-to-f3-for-2025/#respond Tue, 01 Oct 2024 14:53:28 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=181035 Ugo Ugochukwu will get his first taste of Formula 3 in 2025

McLaren Development Driver Ugo Ugochukwu has been promoted to Prema Racing's FIA Formula 3 squad for the 2025 season.

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Ugo Ugochukwu will get his first taste of Formula 3 in 2025

McLaren Development Driver Ugo Ugochukwu has been promoted to Prema Racing’s FIA Formula 3 squad for the 2025 season.

The 17-year-old, who was signed to McLaren’s Driver Development Programme whilst still karting in 2021, has been competing for the Italian Prema outfit in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine this year.

He currently sits 14th in the Drivers’ standings with one weekend to go, having scored nine points finishes from 18 races, including third at the Hungaroring.

The American had finished runner-up in the 2023 Italian Formula 4 Championship with Prema, having finished third in the British F4 Championship with Carlin the year previously.

In the same year, also with Prema, he won the inaugural season of the Euro 4 Championship, winning three of the six races, competing against F2-bound Red Bull-backed British driver Arvid Lindblad.

Ugochukwu has also tested for the McLaren FIA Formula E team, placing 17th fastest out of 22 at the young rookie test at the Berlin Tempelhof Circuit in May, along with Swiss driver Grégoire Saucy.

Ugochukwu has been racing for Prema for the previous two years

In a statement released by Prema, Ugochukwu said: “working with all the people here is special, the chemistry is excellent and it makes the work really enjoyable on and off the track.

“We have had two positive seasons together and I’m looking forward to building on that and I’m sure we will have a good year.”

Rene Rosin, Prema Team Principal added, “we enjoyed working with Ugo in the last two years from Formula 4 to Formula Regional, and we think he has great potential.

“We are convinced that he will be a great fit for FIA Formula 3 next year in terms of approach and driving style.

“”We will soon start preparations and we look forward to helping him make a smooth and successful transition to the new series.”

The final two races of the Formula Regional championship take place at Monza on November 27th.

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Leonardo Fornaroli snatches F3 title at final corner as Meguetounif takes Monza Feature win https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/09/01/fornaroli-snatches-f3-title-at-final-corner-as-meguetounif-takes-monza-feature-win/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/09/01/fornaroli-snatches-f3-title-at-final-corner-as-meguetounif-takes-monza-feature-win/#respond Sun, 01 Sep 2024 07:46:09 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=176815

Leonardo Fornaroli stole the FIA Formula 3 championship on the final corner on the final lap from the clutches of Gabriele Mini in a stunning and ever-changing race, which was won by Sami Meguetounif. In the battle of the two Italian youngsters, it looked as if Mini, in second place, would take the title, having […]

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Leonardo Fornaroli stole the FIA Formula 3 championship on the final corner on the final lap from the clutches of Gabriele Mini in a stunning and ever-changing race, which was won by Sami Meguetounif.

In the battle of the two Italian youngsters, it looked as if Mini, in second place, would take the title, having overhauled his deficit late-on and had a buffer of Christian Mansell between himself and his countryman, but Fornaroli, who went all season without a single race win, made a desperate now-or-never move on Mansell at the Parabolica to steal glory.

Meguetounif was able to pull clear of the battle and take a deserved victory, with Alex Dunne fifth, Martinius Stenshorne sixth and Tim Tramnitz seventh.

Noel Leon came home in eighth, Laurens van Hoepen ninth and Dino Beganovic 10th.

HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED

At lights out, Fornaroli held firm from pole position and led into T1 with Dunne slotting in behind. Mari Boya needed to take action to avoid contact having dived deep, skidding along the grass as everyone else made their way through safely.

Dunne would then began to swarm all over the Trident for the rest of the opening lap, and on the run to the Parabolica, dived down the inside to take the lead. The Italian would not give it up easily, going side-by-side the MP down to the Rettifilo but conceded the place, no doubt thinking long-term and not necessarily needing to win the race.

By the end of the second lap, the front four of Dunne, Fornaroli, Meguetounif and Mini began to escape away. Dunne and Fornaroli continued their battle, with a rhythm starting to emerge, but as it did so, carnage ensued.

On the run into the Ascari chicane, title contender Luke Browning spun around, with others joining in sympathy, as Matias Zagazeta, Sophia Floersch, Cian Shields and Pitor Wisnicki came together at the exit. The Safety Car was deployed, with Browning making his way back to the pits for a new front wing.

The Safety Car came in and the end of lap six with Dunne leading away with Fornaroli looking for a way through. Mini was caught napping and dropped to fifth behind Mansell, who began to look interested. It looked disastrous for Mini, but the Italian would be given a reprieve in one single moment.

Fornaroli skipped over the kerbs at the exit of Ascari, losing ground and falling down to fifth, with Mini now fourth and leading the championship, but one lap later at the same corner, Fornaroli threw the Trident down the inside of Mini to reassert his championship lead.

The top six were now all swarming over each-other, with Dufek going off and down the Rettifilio escape road, and would be followed a lap later by Santiago Ramos, as Meguetounif took the lead off Dunne at the start of lap 10, with Mansell starting to come into play, taking second off Dunne at the Roggia chicane a lap later. Fornaroli and Mini maintained fourth and fifth, the championship as close as possible.

Further back, Sprint Race winner Tramnitz was starting to make some good progress, taking Ramos for sixth, as Mini closed the gap on Fornaroli with the race now beyond the halfway stage.

Into lap 15, and Fornaroli gave himself a gap from Mini as he took Dunne for third, the Prema now needing to bring himself back into play to keep up his title aspirations, which he would do so at the start of lap 16, taking Dunne on the outside of the entry to Rettifilo.

On lap 17, Ramos tried to take Tramnitz at Rettifilio, but locked-up and needing to take the escape road, conceded the position back, and his race would go from bad to worse in a matter of yards, as is Trident put two wheels on the grass into the Roggia as Stenshorne overtook him, spinning around and being sent to the back of the pack.

Lap 18, and Fornaroli threw it up the inside of Mansell, locking-up hugely but taking second. Mini was able to take Mansell himself, being told over radio that Fornaroli was “struggling”, the Trident’s tyres likely flat-spotted owing to the earlier lock-up, but Mansell looked to take the place back, but backed out of move, and with Fornaroli locking-up at Rettifilo again, Mini now looked to take the place from Curve Grande and all the way to the Roggia, but Fornaroli just held-on to second.

Now into the penultimate lap, Fornaroli, Mini and Mansell were separated by just a fraction, as Mini saw his moment and down the outside of the Rettifilo, taking second and the championship lead, as Fornaroli was now in the clutches of Mansell, who took third into the Roggia, with Mini desperately weaving to break the tow at the end of the lap, as the final lap began.

Mansell tried to take second off Mini into T1, but couldn’t get through. Fornaroli then dived down the inside of Mansell into the Roggia, both men going off and rejoining, but both staying in-touch with Mini, who again would weave into the Parabolica. Mini was now just one corner from the title, but knowing all he needed to do was overtake Mansell, Fornaroli made a last ditch lunge up the inside of the Australian, forcing the ART wide and taking third.

As Meguetounif could coast home to take victory, Fornaroli could follow Mini for third place, and the F3 championship in surely one of the most dramatic title finishes in recent memory.

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Tramnitz takes victory in frantic Monza F3 Sprint https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/08/31/tramnitz-takes-victory-in-frantic-monza-f3-sprint/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/08/31/tramnitz-takes-victory-in-frantic-monza-f3-sprint/#respond Sat, 31 Aug 2024 08:58:32 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=176640

MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz took his first FIA Formula 3 victory in Saturday’s sprint race at Monza as the title race is left wide open for tomorrow’s feature. In a race that guaranteed intrigue with an astonishing 17 penalties dished-out after qualifying yesterday, the Red Bull junior held the lead from start-to-finish, holding off the […]

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MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz took his first FIA Formula 3 victory in Saturday’s sprint race at Monza as the title race is left wide open for tomorrow’s feature.

In a race that guaranteed intrigue with an astonishing 17 penalties dished-out after qualifying yesterday, the Red Bull junior held the lead from start-to-finish, holding off the challenge of Sebastian Montoya, the Campos driver followed home by Santiago Ramos in third.

Tramnitz’s team-mate Alex Dunne finished fourth after a frantic late-race battle with several drivers behind him. Dino Beganovic was fifth, with Sami Meguetounif sixth.

Luke Browning put-up a late charge to take seventh, with Mari Boya eighth. Title-leader Leonardo Fornaroli raced brilliantly but lost-out on a higher place late-on, eventually finishing ninth, with title rival Gabriele Mini 10th.

Both Fornaroli and Mini are still both best-placed to take the title tomorrow, with the Italian duo looking to take the title on home soil in tomorrow’s feature race.

HOW THE RACE UNFOLDED

At the start, Tramnitz covered Beganovic into T1, with Montoya steaming up the outside in an attempt to take both of them, bouncing on the sausage kerb but managing to take second.

Beganovic was not done, harrying Montoya all the way up to the second chicane but to no avail. Racing was frantic with many jostling for position before the lap ended, and with a rhythm appearing to form, chaos ensued at the start of lap two.

Joshua Dufek locked-up his AIX and went onto the escape road of the Rettifilo, and the corner would see further drama immediately as Nikita Bedrin and Noel Leon would find their races at an end there, both victim of Tommy Smith, the Australian tagging Leon and Bedrin spinning as a consequence. The incident would bring out the Safety Car.

Tramnitz, put under investigation for a start infringement, retained his lead with a gap as the race restarted, with Beganovic swarming all over a slow Montoya, but the Colombian holding-on. The investigation warranted no further action.

Beganovic and Montoya’s frantic battle left the Swede in the clutches of Ramos, who then capitalised at the exit of the Roggia chicane and took the Prema man third.

A championship battle was forming in the midfield as Fornaroli and Arvid Lindblad duelled for ninth place, the third Prema initially fending him off, but the Italian would eventually take the Brit on the outside on the entry to Ascari.

Ramos began to look at Montoya, and a failed overtake sent him going over the kerb at T1, leaving him to bail out and let Montoya keep his place.

Fornaroli was now all over the back of Martinius Stenshorne and soon took eighth. Further ahead, Ramos continued to look racey and took Montoya to begin a hunt on Tramnitz. Montoya would soon be back ahead as the racing behind them began to hot-up.

Leonardo Fornaroli stormed through the field to hold onto his championship lead

Browning was now intent on taking Lindblad, with Forniroli now up to seventh with Alex Dunne’s sixth place in his grasp. Browning and Lindblad’s battle would eventually see the Hitech taking Lindblad on the outside of the first chicane.

Dunne and Beganovic would tussle for fifth place with Forniroli waiting to pounce behind them. Boya jumped past Fornarioli at the Rettifilo, the focal point for further incident.

Piotr Wisnicki and Max Esterson’s races ended on lap 13, the pair colliding on the exit of the corner, bringing out the Safety Car once again.

The race would restart on the 17th and final lap, and this time Montoya got it right, keeping Tramnitz closer, with Browning taking Fornaroli for eighth, the pair frantically jostling for position with Meguetounif taking Boya for seventh.

Tramnitz held-on to take victory, with Montoya second and Ramos third. Despite Fornaroli’s disappointing final lap, it was a brilliant demonstration of damage limitation and he takes a three-point lead into the final feature race tomorrow, with Mini second on 129, Browning third on 127 and Lindblad fourth with 113.

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Voisin bags maiden win in stop/start Belgian F3 Feature race https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/07/28/voisin-bags-maiden-win-in-stop-start-belgian-f3-feature-race/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/07/28/voisin-bags-maiden-win-in-stop-start-belgian-f3-feature-race/#respond Sun, 28 Jul 2024 07:24:21 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=173489

Rodin’s Callum Voisin won his maiden FIA Formula 3 race in a Spa-Francorchamps Feature dominated by Safety Car cautions. Voisin kept his cool to lead Sebastian Montoya and Leonardo Fornaroli over the line, as the latter’s title rivals had forgettable races. The sun shone through misty skies Sunday morning as the F3 field rolled out […]

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Rodin’s Callum Voisin won his maiden FIA Formula 3 race in a Spa-Francorchamps Feature dominated by Safety Car cautions.

Voisin kept his cool to lead Sebastian Montoya and Leonardo Fornaroli over the line, as the latter’s title rivals had forgettable races.

The sun shone through misty skies Sunday morning as the F3 field rolled out of pit lane, but there were still damp patches littered around the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.

Voisin lined up from pole, with the championship contenders scattered throughout the grid.

Prema’s trio of drivers had lowly starting berths, points leader Gabriele Mini lining up 11th alongside team-mate and Sprint Winner Dino Beganovic in 12th.

Meanwhile, Arvid Lindblad started from 27th on the grid, but he had made light work of charging through to just outside the points in Saturday’s Sprint.

Fornaroli and Luke Browning had more favourable starting positions, third and seventh respectively.

Voisin led calmly at lights out, but McLaren junior Alexander Dunne, starting alongside him, fell to fourth behind Campos’ Montoya and Trident’s Fornaroli as further back there was drama at La Source.

Mini, starting mid-pack, got spun out and dropped down to 29th at La Source.

Oliver Goethe and Cian Shields also wound up with punctures in the opening lap chaos.

Out front, Voisin and Montoya went straight on at Les Combes proving how tricky the damp conditions were at the start of the 15 lap race.

By the start of Lap 3, the Safety Car was called into action for the first time with Tuukka Taponen and Martinius Stenshorne colliding, the latter spinning and the former left with nowhere to go at Stavelot.

As the field toured the circuit under caution, Voisin led from Montoya and Fornaroli with Dunne and Sami Meguetounif completing the top five.

Browning was circulating in seventh, Beganovic 13th, Lindblad 15th and Mini still a lowly 21st.

As it stood, Mini would surrender the championship lead to Fornaroli by a single point.

On Lap 6 of 15, race direction declared the Safety Car period would end, allowing for a sprint in all but name to close out proceedings.

Voisin backed up the field, weaving to and fro ahead of the final chicane, which is where he decided to pull the pin and lead the field back to racing speeds.

The top three held their positions through the opening portion of Lap 7, but Dunne lost fourth to Meguetounif at Les Combes.

But only after half a lap of green flag running, the Safety Car was called into action again, with Sophia Floersch and Jospeh Loake tangling at Rivaeg, the Alpine Junior’s race ending in the gravel and Loake touring slowly around the rest of the circuit at the back of the field.

This time, the Safety Car was called in at the end of Lap 9 with Voisin once again tasked with restarting the race.

Once again he backed up the field, but this time around he roared back to racing speeds ahead of the final chicane and the tactic proved fruitful as he comfortably led at the start of Lap 10.

Lindblad chances of scoring were dashed as he was tagged by Christian Mansell at Rivage and then Mari Boya stuffed his Campos car into the barriers at Speakers Corner, triggering the third Safety Car of the race.

Replays showed Boya, suffering from a puncture after being tagged by Charlie Wurz, was powerless to control his lame Campos machine as it strayed into the gravel and latterly the barriers.

Lap 13, and the Safety Car was called in, but whether the F3 field could complete two clean laps of running to complete the race was an important question.

Voisin pulled the pin even earlier this time around, getting up to speed around Blanchimont and again, leading comfortably through La Source.

The Rodin driver kept Montoya at bay through the Kemmel straight and Les Combes, but Meguetounif had no such luck with Van Amersfoort’s Noel Leon, surrendering fourth place.

Voisin had the gap to in front up to eight-tenths of a second for the start of the final lap as DRS was enabled.

But it was no matter as the Briton kept calm and collected to bag his maiden F3 win with Montoya and Fornaroli completing the podium and reclaiming the championship lead.

Leon took fourth ahead of Meguetounif and Hitech’s Browning.

Jenzer’s Max Esterson, Trident’s Santiago Ramos and MP Motorsport duo Tim Tramnitz and Dunne rounded out the top-10 as Mini’s fightback ended in 13th.

Despite going scoreless, Prema bagged the Team’s Championship with a round to spare, the Italian outfit’s fifth such success in the modern F3 era.

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Mansell defends Spa’s dangers ahead of penultimate F3 weekend https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/07/26/mansell-defends-spas-dangers-ahead-of-penultimate-f3-weekend/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/07/26/mansell-defends-spas-dangers-ahead-of-penultimate-f3-weekend/#respond Fri, 26 Jul 2024 07:20:00 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=173142

ART Grand Prix Formula 3 driver Christian Mansell has concluded that the infamous Eau Rogue and Raidillon section of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit should remain, despite conversations in recent years about alterations after the deaths of two junior drivers. Promising Frenchman Anthoine Hubert was killed at Eau Rogue in a Formula 2 crash in 2019 in […]

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ART Grand Prix Formula 3 driver Christian Mansell has concluded that the infamous Eau Rogue and Raidillon section of the Spa-Francorchamps circuit should remain, despite conversations in recent years about alterations after the deaths of two junior drivers.

Promising Frenchman Anthoine Hubert was killed at Eau Rogue in a Formula 2 crash in 2019 in dry conditions, whilst Dutch teenager Dilano van ‘t Hoff perished in the wet at the Kemmel kink just after the complex last year.

The deaths, as well as other accidents – including one that caused collarbone and vertebra injuries to Jack Aitken in WEC three years ago – have caused discussions in the motorsport community as to whether the section of the track should remain, but Mansell, despite acknowledging the dangers involved, believes that, on balance, the status quo should be maintained, believing that all drivers are aware of the risks involved.

Mansell is fifth in the F3 standings with just two weekends remaining.

“It’s a sensitive topic, and it isn’t nice to speak about,” he told Motorsport Week, adding: “The only thing I can say is that motorsport is dangerous. We have the same percentage of having an accident at every single circuit, and it is what it is to a certain degree.

“I love what I do more than anything in the world, but I’m not naive enough to know there isn’t risks I take, but at at the end of the day, my love of the sport outweighs the fear of having a major accident.

“The changes they have made to Eau Rogue and Raidillon I think were quite good, and back to the question: ‘should it even be there?’ It should to a certain degree because you’d take away a historic corner, but the question is: ‘would you keep a dangerous corner because of the history?’ Well, in fairness, it’s situation-dependent.

“Unfortunately, two young people have lost their lives and that’s very very sad, but as a percentage, that’s quite low. That’s sad and quite cut-throat to say, but we all know it’s dangerous and we all know the risk.”

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Lindblad becomes first repeat 2024 F3 winner with Spain win https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/06/23/lindblad-secures-rainy-f3-spanish-feature-race-victory/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/06/23/lindblad-secures-rainy-f3-spanish-feature-race-victory/#respond Sun, 23 Jun 2024 08:53:46 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=169437 Arvid Lindblad became the first repeat winner in Formula 3 this season as he claimed the Feature Race win at the Spanish Grand Prix to bolster his championship bid. Lindblad dominated the race as cars behind struggled with degradation when rainfall arrived in the latter laps, opening up a seven-second lead over Christian Mansell. Mansell […]

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Arvid Lindblad became the first repeat winner in Formula 3 this season as he claimed the Feature Race win at the Spanish Grand Prix to bolster his championship bid.

Lindblad dominated the race as cars behind struggled with degradation when rainfall arrived in the latter laps, opening up a seven-second lead over Christian Mansell.

Mansell lined up on pole position and held that advantage on the long run down to Turn 1 as the leading quartet on the grid remained unchanged on the opening tour.

Oliver Goethe was the main loser at the start as he dropped two positions to seventh and was 4.5 seconds back from the leaders, as Luke Browning moved into third.

Mansell’s hold on the race lead would not last long, though, as Lindblad used DRS down the start-finish straight to swoop around his rival’s outside at Turn 1 on Lap 5.

Like in the earlier races in the weekend across the feeder series ladder, track limits were set to provide a contentious talking point and Mansell was warned over radio.

Charlie Wurz completed an excellent overtake around Joseph Loake’s outside exiting Turn 1 on Lap 10, making the Rodin Motorsport driver vulnerable to cars behind.

Loake then came under pressure from Sophia Floersch, with the Alpine-affiliated racer aiming to climb through the grid to find a path into the points-scoring positions.

Back at the sharp end, Browning was striving to move to second to give Lindbland a run, but Mansell was hit with an early penalty due to several track limit violations.

Mansell was continuing to struggle with degradation and slipped more than a second behind race leader Lindbland, which meant that he no longer had DRS to utilise.

Amid her battle with Loake, Floersch lost track position to fellow Alpine member Gabriele Mini as he snatched the place going around the inside of Turn 1 on Lap 12.

Hoping to secure vital points to take over the lead in the F3 Drivers’ Championship, passing Mansell would be crucial for Browning in the Hitech Pulse Eight machine.

Goethe made a pass around Laurens Van Hoepen’s outside to regain one position on Lap 14, climbing back up to sixth, as Sami Meguetonif snatched 15th from Mini.

Luke Browning (GBR) Hitech Pulse-Eight and Sebastian Montoya (COL) Campos Racing. 22.06.2024. FIA Formula 3 Championship, Rd 5, Sprint Race, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday.

As drivers across the pack struggled with degradation in the cooler morning temperature, raindrops began to fall in the third sector as the field passed on into Lap 15.

Loake and Jenzer Motorsport driver Max Esterson swapped places going into Turn 4 on Lap 15 as the rainfall increased, while Mini’s plight continued as he was 17th.

At the front of the pack, Lindblad was now more than three seconds clear of Mansell in second as the top three drivers began to extend their advantage over the rest.

Browning held a 1.8s advantage over fourth-placed Nikola Tsolov as caution periods emerged with drivers continuing to struggle with cooler rubber in the light rainfall.

Sebastian Montoya was striving to make amends from 27th place on the grid and he rose to 16th as he overhauled Callum Voisin’s Rodin car into Turn 10 on Lap 18.

Mini’s tumble was still ongoing as he dropped to 21st, while another Alpine representative in Tsolov also lost out as Fornaroli went to his outside at Turn 4 on Lap 22.

Van Hoepen then picked up an unfortunate and crucial puncture in a fight for a place in the points positions, meaning he would not be involved in the closing stages.

Fornaroli’s charge to earn a podium was successful as he took third from Browning at Turn 4, as Martinius Stenshorne also picked up a puncture to squander points.

Lindblad reached the chequered flag to claim his second win this season in the 100th race in the F3 era, with Mansell and Fornaroli completing the podium positions.

Goethe finished the race in fourth as Browning lost another position in the closing stages to come home in fifth, with Tsolov adding to his points total with sixth spot.

MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne secured seventh, with Mari Boya in eighth for Campos. Prema’s Dino Beganovic and Van Amersfoort’s Noel Leon rounded out the top 10.

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Boya earns maiden F3 victory at home in Barcelona Sprint https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/06/22/boya-earns-maiden-f3-victory-at-home-in-barcelona-sprint/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/06/22/boya-earns-maiden-f3-victory-at-home-in-barcelona-sprint/#respond Sat, 22 Jun 2024 09:29:24 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=169173

Campos Racing driver Mari Boya seized his maiden victory on home soil during a hectic Barcelona Formula 3 Sprint Race, which was completed under the Safety Car. Boya capitalised on the two Trident drivers ahead coming together in the opening exchanges to pip Alex Dunne to become the ninth different winner in the ninth race. […]

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Campos Racing driver Mari Boya seized his maiden victory on home soil during a hectic Barcelona Formula 3 Sprint Race, which was completed under the Safety Car.

Boya capitalised on the two Trident drivers ahead coming together in the opening exchanges to pip Alex Dunne to become the ninth different winner in the ninth race.

Santiago Ramos made a great start to retain pole position into Turn 1 while, while Trident team-mate Sami Meguetounif retained second place as Boya resided third.

Goethe moved up three places on the opening lap, as Sebastian Montoya overcame the penalty that dropped him to 26th on the grid to rise up several places to 12th.

Heading into the second lap, there was a four-wide battle into the opening corner which witnessed Christian Mansell complete a glorious overtake to move into 13th.

Back at the sharp end, there was contact between the Trident drivers as Meguetounif attempted a move at Turn 1, ended up on the grass and clipped his team-mate.

The incident saw the two leaders relinquish positions to Boya’s Campos, while Ramos limped his Trident back to the pit lane to have the damage repaired to his car.

Nikita Bedrin’s participation would also end up premature as the PHM Racing driver made contact with Rodin’s Callum Voisin through the resulting yellow flag period.

The Safety Car returned to the pit lane and the race proceeded to resume on Lap 8, with Boya entering Turn 1 unopposed with a margin over Dunne’s MP Motorsport.

A battle ensued behind between Arvid Lindblad and Trident’s highest-placed driver Leonardo Fornaroli for seventh place, the pair swapping positions through Turn 3.

Boya clocked the fastest lap on the ninth lap, but Dunne remained attached to his rear and in DRS range. However, the Irishman also had Goethe right behind his car.

Luke Browning (GBR) Hitech Pulse-Eight and Sebastian Montoya (COL) Campos Racing. 22.06.2024. FIA Formula 3 Championship, Rd 5, Sprint Race, Barcelona, Spain, Saturday.

Martinius Stenshorne launched an excellent dive around Laurens Van Hoepen on Lap 10 to leave the ART Grand Prix driver vulnerable to Noel Leon going into Turn 5.

Montoya was continuing his exploits through the order as had now elevated his Campos Racing car up into 13th position on Lap 12, behind Mansell’s ART Grand Prix.

The pack was beginning to catch up to the race leaders at this stage, creating a massive DRS train to ensure that the field was bunched up going into the final stages.

Browning was scrambling to salvage some points in the truncated race and passed around Mansell’s outside at Turn 12, but he then lost it on Lap 14 through Turn 3.

Gabriele Mini was enduring a challenging outing as the championship leader was situated down in 11th place and his attention was on an eager Montoya on Lap 15.

Dunne almost caught Boya out on the Turn 1 exit on Lap 15, but the home representative caught an inch of space to pull ahead of his rival in the MP Motorsport car.

With five laps remaining, Goethe had fallen out of DRS range to second-place Dune and was now coming under increased pressure from Stenshorne creeping behind.

A light touch between Montoya and Mini on the Turn 4 exit approaching Turn 5 on Lap 18 would have disastrous consequences as both drivers ended up in the gravel.

The Safety Car emerged to clear up the stranded cars and that remained in place until the end of the race to protect Boya from being vulnerable to Dunne on a restart.

Boya took the chequered flag to emerge victorious on home soil at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya; Dunne was second and Stenshorne took the final podium spot.

Van Hoepen came fourth in his ART Grand Prix machine as Leon dropped down to fifth place for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Trident’s Fornaroli classified in seventh.

Dino Beganovic edged out his Prema team-mate Lindblad as the pair claimed eighth and ninth, with Tim Tramnitz securing the final point in 10th with MP Motorsport.

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Tsolov barred from competing in Spa-Francorchamps F3 round https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/05/17/tsolov-barred-from-competing-in-spa-francorchamps-f3-round/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/05/17/tsolov-barred-from-competing-in-spa-francorchamps-f3-round/#respond Fri, 17 May 2024 09:12:01 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=164744

Nikola Tsolov is the second driver this weekend to be barred from competing in the round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, after breaching the FIA Sporting Regulations. Alpine Junior Tsolov joins Martinius Stenshorne in breaching article 10.4 of the 2024 F3 sporting regulations which clearly states that “No driver entered in the Championship may […]

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Nikola Tsolov is the second driver this weekend to be barred from competing in the round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, after breaching the FIA Sporting Regulations.

Alpine Junior Tsolov joins Martinius Stenshorne in breaching article 10.4 of the 2024 F3 sporting regulations which clearly states that “No driver entered in the Championship may carry out any type of activity on any track with any type of single-seater car that was designed and/or built to achieve a power-to-weight ratio less than 2.0 kg/bhp.”

In addition, point ‘e’ of article 10.4 states “Genuine participation to a Standalone event needs to be explicitly approved by the FIA and Promoter in writing.”

Stenshorne was found to be in breach of this having failed to inform the necessary parties of his outing in the Silverstone round of the British GB3 series and thus has been barred from competing at the Northamptonshire circuit when FIA F3 races there in the summer.

Tsolov is guilty of similar action after competing at Spa in the Eurocup-3 season opener on April 19 and 20.

Nikola Tsolov (BGR) ART Grand Prix. 23.03.2024. FIA Formula 3 Championship, Rd 2, Sprint Race, Melbourne, Australia, Saturday.

The 17-year-old Bulgarian took part with the Spanish outfit GRS but was reportedly “not aware of the requirements of Article 10.4 and his participation in the Eurocup-3 Series, of which he is planning to participate in three more Eurocup-3 Series Races this year, was organized by his management team three days before the event.”

A client of Fernando Alonso’s A14 Management programme, Tsolov and his management team “failed to request written authorization for the driver to take part in the Eurocup-3 Series, as requested in Article 10.4 of the Sporting Regulations.”

This has resulted in him being prohibited from competing in his ART Grand Prix machine when FIA F3 heads to Belgium later in the year.

Red Bull Junior and Prema FIA F3 rookie Arvin Lindblad has also received a €20,000 fine, with €10,000 of the penalty suspended due to his participation in the two-day GB3 Silverstone test on April 25 and 26 with Fortec Motorsport.

The stewards ruling noted that Lindblad “explained that his management team organized the test session at Silverstone and there was a miscommunication with his team. The Team Representative [from Prema] explained that he was unaware of the Driver’s participation in the GB3 test in Silverstone until they received the summons from the Stewards.”

Thus, it has been considered an “administrative error” and the suspended €10,000 proportion of the fine will only be activated if a similar breach of the regulations occurs again.

Lindblad currently lies fifth in the FIA F3 standings on 23 points whilst Tsolov is 16th with seven points.

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The Wurz father/son racing bond is strong https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/05/17/the-wurz-father-son-racing-bond-is-strong/ https://www.motorsportweek.com/2024/05/17/the-wurz-father-son-racing-bond-is-strong/#respond Fri, 17 May 2024 08:15:00 +0000 https://www.motorsportweek.com/?p=164689

Charlie Wurz said he was “very happy” and felt privileged to have experienced father Alex by his side as he contests his rookie FIA Formula 3 campaign. Alex Wurz is a name known to many fans of not only Formula 1, but global motorsport. A two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans Winner, advisor to the […]

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Charlie Wurz said he was “very happy” and felt privileged to have experienced father Alex by his side as he contests his rookie FIA Formula 3 campaign.

Alex Wurz is a name known to many fans of not only Formula 1, but global motorsport.

A two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans Winner, advisor to the Toyota FIA World Endurance Championship squad and Chairman of the Grand Prix Drivers Association, there’s no better mentor for Charlie to have in his corner than father Alex.

Heading to Imola this weekend, Charlie once again has his father by his side in the Jenzer Motorsport garage and no doubt will be able to draw on Alex’s podium success with McLaren during the 2005 San Marino Grand Prix.

“Yeah so it definitely helps to have my dad with me,” said Wurz.

“He’s here this weekend, he was also there in Australia, a track he drove before so he gave me some tips because it was a new track for me.

Alex Wurz (AUT) GPDA Chairman. 09.03.2024. Formula 1 World Championship, Rd 2, Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Race Day.

“So just from his advice and all of that definitely really helps.

“I’m really happy to have him by my side and always if I have a question or something I can always go and ask him and generally he has some kind of answer for me with his 20 years or so of experience.

“When I’m not sure about something or maybe I need to explain something to the team I’m not exactly sure how to word it, it always helps to have him with me to just help me put those things into words.”

Wurz also commented on how the fast-paced nature of an F3 weekend, whereby a single practice session proceeds qualifying and two races, requires a steely type.

The teenager also credited his father for helping him in this aspect.

“In F3 you can’t change so much during a race weekend because you go straight from free practice with let’s say two/three laps into quali so you sort of have to be on it straight away,” said Wurz.

“I think training with him [Alex Wurz] at home you know on the bike at the gym whatever also helps so I think all of it is a combination and I’m very happy to have the privilege of having my father with me.”

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