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The main news before the Monza weekend started was the promotion of Argentine Franco Colapinto to the top echelon of motor racing by the Williams team, one might say powered by pesos, not performance.
His seat at the Dutch MP Motorsport team was quickly filled by Red Bull Junior from Germany, Oliver Goethe, poetic justice one might say. The 2024 FIA Formula 2 season has so far seen 14 different drivers win races.
Plus, impressive performances have been put in by Brazilian rookie Gabriel Bortoleto and Estonian Paul Aron, who led the championship for a while but are still seeking their first Formula 2 race win. There are still three rounds remaining after Monday.Â
Qualifying
Zane Maloney, winner of the opening two races of the season, took pole position with a time of 1:32.16 driving for Rodin Motorsport, a team previously owned by Trevor Carlin. Championship leader and Red Bull Junior Isack Hadjar was second on the grid. Estonian Paul Aron was third, and sharing row two with him was ex-Red Bull Junior from Norway, Dennis Hauger. Row three featured Victor Martins and Kimi Antonelli. His PREMA teammate Oliver Bearman qualified eighth.
Sprint Race: Bull’s run by Bearman
Saturday’s Formula 2 Sprint Race saw debutante Goethe go into the barriers before he could make it to Turn 1 after being hit on his right rear tire by Zak O’Sullivan’s car. New Formula 1 signing Antonelli also suffered front-wing damage as Enzo Fittipaldi and Pepe Marti battled for the lead.
The Spanish Red Bull Junior led the opening lap, but the Brazilian, grandson of double world champion Emerson, kept him in close company. On Lap 4, Fittipaldi broke out and had to take the escape road; this allowed Victor Martins into second and Bearman into third.
DRS was enabled on Lap 5, and Bearman wasted no time in grabbing second from Martins. The F1-bound English driver was just over a second behind the race leader and was looking very competitive. Completing the top five were Fittipaldi and DĂĽrksen.
Antonelli, after a visit to the pits for a new front wing, was 19th. His crash in free practice driving Russell’s car was quickly yesterday’s news after he was announced as Lewis Hamilton’s replacement at Mercedes for 2025.
On lap 7, Bearman grabbed the lead as Marti, under pressure, had to take the escape road. On the following lap, Martins outbraced Marti, going into the first corner and taking second.
After 10 of the 21 laps of the Sprint Race, the top 10 were Bearman, Martins, Fittipaldi, DĂĽrksen, Marti, Maloney, Aron, Crawford, Hauger, and Maini. On Lap 13, DĂĽrksen demoted Fittipaldi to fourth. The Paraguayan driver was looking for his second podium of the season.
On the final lap, Maloney moved into the top five after making a move on Fittipaldi, who also lost sixth place to Crawford. Early race leader Marti finished fourth. Bearman collected his second win of the season, sharing the podium with second-place Martins and DĂĽrksen.
Feature Race: Gabriel goes last to first
The 30-lap feature race saw the green machine of Maloney shot into the lead from pole position at the start. One of the championship contenders, Aron, suffered a big blow as he was hit from behind by Red Bull Junior Josep Marti going into Turn 1. The race was over for the Estonian while the Spaniard was served with a 10s penalty.
Safety car in and action resumed on Lap 3. Maloney maintained his lead. The PREMA teammates Bearman and Antonelli were looking very racy, and DĂĽrksen kept them in close company.
Timing is everything. Lap 6: DĂĽrksen moved ahead of Antonelli and began the chase of Bearman. The English driver was told to box for a change of compound. By the following lap also in were Maloney, DĂĽrksen, and Hadjar, among others. As these drivers came back on the track, Hauger and Japanese Ritomo Miyata collided.
Second Safety Car period of the day. The big beneficiaries were Bortoleto, MartĂ, and Verschoor. Bortoleto could not believe his luck; he would be race leader after all drivers had made their mandatory pit stops. This included Goethe, who was taken out on the opening lap in Saturday’s race. Saturday’s winner Bearman and Correa made contact on Lap 15, forcing the American driver of Ecuadorian heritage to retire from the race.
On Lap 24, Antonelli and Bearman battled side-by-side for sixth. Toto’s new charge was able to get ahead, but Bearman was passed by Dürksen also. With two laps to go, Indian driver Kush Maini made his mandatory pit stop, leaving Bortoleto unchallenged in the final two laps of the race to take the second victory of his rookie season. Maloney was second, and the final step of the podium was taken by Dutchman Verschoor.
Antonelli in fourth was followed by DĂĽrksen, Martins, Bearman, VillagĂłmez, and Crawford in ninth, with Fittipaldi picking up the final point from his tenth-place finish.
2024 Formula 2 Championship Standings
Hadjar, despite not scoring any points over the Monday weekend, still leads the championship with 165 points. Now, with three rounds remaining in Baku, Bahrain, and Yas Marina, he is in clear and present danger of losing the championship in his second season to rookie Bortoleto; he is second in the championship with 154.5 points.
Maloney is third on 135 points. Aron is fourth with 124 points; he also did not score any points. Crawford completes the top five with 105 points. F1-bound Antonelli is sixth in the standings with 99 points. Bearman is 14th with 50 points.
Formula 3: Season Finale at Monza
Parco Monza hosted the final race of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship. Going into the final two races of the season, all eyes were on two local lads, one from the mainland and the other from an island with a very rich racing heritage. The combatants, Leonardo Fornaroli and Sicilian Gabriele Mini, were separated by a single point.
Fornaroli got to the top of the standings by scoring points in 16 of 18 races. He has the most podium finishes this season, but incredibly not even one on the top step. Mini, under Nicola Todt’s All Road Management, took his only victory coming into Monza in the Monaco Feature Race. The one-point deficit is not a distraction, as per Alpine junior.
Third, only five points behind Mini, is English driver Luke Browning.
Another English driver, Arvid Lindblad, came to Monza with 113 points and a chance to take the title in his rookie year. The Red Bull Junior won the opening race of the season and then did the double at Silverstone.
Qualifying
The motorsport-crazy Italian fans were assured of a thrilling finale to the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship after qualifying was over at Parco Monza. Local lad Fornaroli to start the feature race from his third pole position of the season, Dunne qualified second. Mini had to finish ahead of Fornaroli to have any chance of winning the championship. The Sicilian qualified third, assuring a great end-of-season battle for the title.Â
Sprint Race: Tramnitz triumphs with Trident
The partial reverse grid for the Sprint Race gave pole position to German Red Bull Junior Tim Tramnitz, with Irishman Alex Dunne sharing the front row with him. An extra formation lap was required as Australian Christian Mansell stalled on the grid.
Tramnitz stayed ahead when the red lights went off. Sebastian Montoya jumped up to second with a pass on Beganovic. Noel Leon got a love tap from his Van Amersfoort Racing Australian teammate Tommy Smith. The Mexican spun and collected Nikita Bedrin, bringing out the safety car.
While Tramnitz retains the lead after the Safety Car is called in, title protagonists Lindblad and Fornaroli are in the points on Lap 7. Montoya came under pressure for second from the second Trident car of Santiago Ramos. On lap nine, Ramos moved ahead of Montoya, who then came under pressure from Swede Beganovic. Meanwhile, championship leader Fornaroli has moved up to eighth place. Montoya got second place on Lap 11. Race leader is just outside the DRS zone.
Second safety car deployment after a collision between Piotr Wisnicki and ex-gamer from the United States Max Esterson left both stuck in the gravel.
A final lap showdown followed after the safety car was called in. Montoya made an attempt to grab the lead, but Tramnitz kept to his cool and stayed ahead to take his first F3 victory.
Montoya, based in Miami, fought wheel to wheel with Ramos for the second step of the podium, which Juan Pablo’s kid was able to keep. Ramos was third, Dunne was fourth, and Beganovic completed the top five.
The Colombian “Seb” lost his podium place after a post-race penalty of 5s for forcing Ramos off the track dropped him to 11th.
The championship battle between Fornaroli and Mini, the two Italians finished ninth and 10th respectively, to be decided in Sunday’s final race of the season.
Feature Race: Dive bomb that delivered.Â
The final race of the FIA Formula 3 season started early in the morning at Parco Monza. Fans were treated to a thrilling and nail-biting finish and the championship was decided on the last corner of the last lap. Parabolica, now renamed Curva Alboreto in memory of ex-Ferrari star who came close to becoming the first Italian World Champion in 1985 since Alberto Ascari in 1953.
In a classic case of losing the battle but winning the war, Fornaroli from Piacenza took the title without winning a single race all through the season. It all looked like smooth sailing at the start as Fornaroli started from pole position and led the race as the five red lights went out.
His lead lasted going to Parabolica when Dunne passed him, but Fornaroli’s cause was helped by his Trident teammate Sami Meguetounif who passed the other title challenger Mini for third on the back straight on the opening lap.
With Mini running fifth the championship was looking almost secured for Fornaroli. Then he did a Lewis Hamilton 2007 Interlagos act on Lap 7. Fighting for the lead when there was no need to, he went off track and suddenly found himself behind Mini.
A lap later Mini had a gravel excursion which allowed Fornaroli to get ahead of the Sicilian.
On Lap 10 the lead changed as Dunne was passed by Meguetounif. Man on the move was Mansell and he made it to second after passing Dunne on the following lap. Fornaroli demoted Dunne to fourth and a lap later Mini also passed the Irish driver and began his charge for the championship.
As the laps were winding down both the title contenders moved into podium positions. Up ahead race leader Meguetounif was on his own pace and untroubled by the battle brewing behind for championship glory.
Fornaroli’s championship hopes started to drown after he was passed by both Mini and Mansell on the penultimate lap. Finish in this position and the title will be Mini’s maximum joy. As they raced for the final time on the back straight, Fornaroli had only one ammunition left in his arsenal.
Launch a Daniil Kvyat-type torpedo. Incredibly, it worked. Fornaroli’s dive into Parabolica saw him come ahead of Mansell, who was unable to counterattack as he went slightly off course.
The record shows Fornaroli did not win a single race in the 2024 FIA Formula F3 Championship, but he will sleep well knowing he set a record as the first Italian Champion of the series.
Mini had more misery poured on him after the race by the stewards. He was disqualified for “minimum requirement with regards to its tire pressures.”
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