Gabriel Bortoleto wins from last in feature FIA F2 race, as Leonardo Fornaroli is crowned F3 champion despite Sam Meguetounif’s win.
F2:
It was a brilliant start from pole for Maloney, likewise for third-placed Paul Aron, although it was a slow getaway for Championship leader Isack Hadjar. However, there was drama at Turn 1 as Josep María Martí locked up into the corner following his fast start, sending him into the back of Aron, who was out of the race following the contact. The Campos Racing driver was later given a 10-second penalty for the incident.
The Safety Car was called upon and with the track cleared, racing resumed on Lap 3 as Maloney led Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. Just behind them, Hadjar, who had dropped to fifth, made up one position after getting ahead of the fast-starting AIX Racing car of Joshua Duerksen only for the AIX driver to retake the position down the main straight on Lap 5.
As Lap 6 got underway, Maloney had a lead of over a second and a half to Bearman, while Duerksen was on the charge, getting ahead of Antonelli heading to Turn 1. PREMA Racing then brought Bearman into the pit lane to swap his Supersofts for the Medium tyres, with Martins following him in to do the same.
Antonelli was one of a several drivers in on the following lap, with Maloney, Duerksen, Hadjar, Crawford, Zak O’Sullivan, Cordeel, and Enzo Fittipaldi in to fit the Mediums. But just as they came out of the pit lane, the Safety Car was called upon with Dennis Hauger having spun at Turn 1 following contact with Ritomo Miyata. This gave Bortoleto, Martí, Verschoor, Miyata and Rafael Villagómez the chance to pit.
Significantly, Bortoleto was now the net race leader having started in P22, with Verschoor behind and Maloney third in the queue of those to have made their mandatory pit stop. We returned to racing on Lap 11 of 30 with the MP Motorsport debutant Oliver Goethe leading Invicta’s Kush Maini. As the drivers got ready to start Lap 13, Maloney made a significant move as he got ahead of Verschoor heading to Parabolica.
This put him right on the back of Bortoleto, but only briefly as the Brazilian got ahead of Juan Manuel Correa heading to Turn 1. Bortoleto and Maloney were picking their way through the field as the former got ahead of Goethe for P2, while the latter pulled off another move at Parabolica on Correa. Lap 15 got underway in dramatic fashion as Bearman collided with Correa at Turn 1, giving the DAMS Lucas Oil driver front wing damage which knocked him out of the race, as Martins took advantage to get ahead of the Briton.
Moments later, Bortoleto took the lead from teammate Maini heading to the Roggia chicane. On to Lap 18 and Maloney was losing time to Bortoleto in the battle for the race win as he struggled to get past Goethe. He eventually made the move heading into the Ascari chicane later in the lap, but he was now over four seconds clear behind Bortoleto out in front.
As we started Lap 23 of 30, Martins, Bearman and Antonelli were battling for sixth. On the next lap, the two PREMA drivers went wheel-to-wheel into Turn 1, with Antonelli getting ahead at the exit of Turn 2. Bearman tried to stay on the outside but dipped a tyre in the gravel, giving Duerksen the chance to make it past.
The Italian was on the charge and got ahead of Martins down the main straight to get up to P5, with Goethe having finally pitted and dropped to P16. Martins lost another place on Lap 28, with Duerksen getting ahead under braking into Turn 1. Maini came in on Lap 29, leaving Bortoleto out front by himself for the final two tours before crossing the line to take his second victory of the season.
Maloney followed him home, almost nine seconds behind, to take P2 ahead of Verschoor for Trident at their home race weekend. Antonelli was able to keep hold of P4 ahead of Duerksen, with Martins in sixth. Bearman finished seventh, Villagómez in eighth, Crawford in ninth as Fittipaldi took the final point in P10.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1830169025298509947
F3:
Fornaroli covered off Alex Dunne immediately at lights out and retained his lead into the first chicane, with the MP Motorsport following ahead of Minì in third. Into Parabolica and the Irish driver was down the inside of the Championship leader to take first. Just behind, teammate Sami Meguetounif took third from Minì with a slipstream into the first corner going into Lap 2.
Further back, Luke Browning was up to 11th from 13th on the grid after the opening lap, but dropped to 12th after compatriot Joseph Loake was able to get the tow on Lap 3 to move ahead at Turn 1. Battling into Ascari, Browning was side-by-side with Nikola Tsolov but spun on corner entry.
Several drivers then made contact in a separate incident further on in the corner to bring out a Safety Car, with Cian Shields, Sophia Floersch and Matías Zagazeta left out of the running with damage. Browning was able to continue but was down in 26th position after a pitstop.
Back to racing conditions entering Lap 7, Dunne kept hold of the lead ahead of Fornaroli, but Minì dropped down to fifth after Christian Mansell got ahead into the first corner. Fighting for the lead into Ascari, Fornaroli went wide mid-corner and took a trip through the gravel, dropping him down to fifth position and crucially behind Minì.
Lap 8 and Minì was the one into the gravel at the first Lesmo and it opened the door for Fornaroli to pass him for fourth into Ascari. Up ahead, Meguetounif moved ahead of Dunne at Turn 1 under braking to take the lead on Lap 10. Mansell was on the move on the following lap, rounding Dunne at the Roggia chicane to take second place in the ART.
Onto Lap 15 and Fornaroli was in the DRS of Dunne and through for third position at Turn 1 to put a car between himself and Minì. The PREMA driver put a pass on Dunne himself on the following lap to move into fourth position and keep Fornaroli in his sights. Lap 18 and Fornaroli was on the move again, this time taking second position from Mansell at the first corner despite a sizeable lock-up.
Minì followed through later on in the lap at Ascari to remain within a second of the Championship leader. Another lock-up on Lap 20 at Turn 1 for Fornaroli allowed Minì to close right onto the back of the Trident. Onto the penultimate lap and Minì got the move down to pass his title rival, who then had Mansell attacking into the Roggia chicane and the ART driver got ahead, tipping the title battle in favour of the PREMA driver.
Onto the final lap and Minì was desperate to keep Mansell behind and worked hard to break the tow. Fornaroli was in the wheel tracks of the ART out of the first chicane and tried to get a late-braking move done but had to skip across the second chicane, forcing him to hand the place back.
Meguetounif was clear to take his second win in F3 ahead of Minì, but with a final corner lunge on Mansell, Fornaroli cleared the Australian taking P3 and sealing the title. Dunne was fifth in the end ahead of Martinius Stenshorne, Tim Tramnitz, Noel León, Laurens van Hoepen and Arvid Lindblad, who rounded out the top 10.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1830144264690450889
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the Feature Race at Monza, several drivers have been given post-race penalties, while Gabriele Minì has been disqualified. Firstly, Gabriele Minì has been disqualified from the race after his car was found to be in breach of Article 12.9 of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Technical Regulations.
A post-race report from FIA Technical Delegate indicated that Car 2 had not met the minimum requirement with regards to its tyre pressures. After a review, it was determined that both front tyres from Car 2 were 14.9 PSI, below the required 15.5 PSI, while both his rear tyres were 14.1 PSI, again below the minimum 14.5 PSI, constituting a rules breach and, consequently, Car 2 has been excluded from the Feature Race result.
Consequently, this promotes Leonardo Fornaroli to second and Christian Mansell to third. Luke Browning has also been handed a penalty. The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver has been given a 10-second time penalty after he was found to have caused a collision with Car 31 belonging to Rodin Motorsport’s Joseph Loake.
The Stewards spoke to both drivers and their team representatives after the race while also examining all the video evidence available before determining that Browning had been wholly to blame for the collision between the two drivers This 10-second penalty is in addition to the five-second penalty Browning received during the race.
As a result of his additional time penalty, Browning drops from 13th in the order to 20th. Max Esterson has also been handed a 10-second time penalty after he was found to have a cause a collision with Car 20 belonging to Noel León. The Stewards spoke to both drivers and their Team Representatives and examined video evidence before determining that Esterson had been wholly to blame for the incident.
Finally, Noah Stromsted has been handed a post-race time penalty. The Campos Racing driver was involved in an incident during the race with Car 22, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Tommy Smith. Following the race, the Stewards examined video evidence and heard from both drivers along with their team representatives and determined that Stromsted had been wholly to blame for the collision. As a result, they applied a 10-second time penalty to the Campos driver. With his time penalty, Stromsted is 23rd in the classification.
Here’s how F2, F3 sprint panned out
[Note: The story is as per press release]
