Luke Browning took feature FIA F2 race pole in Monza amid red flag stoppages, as Brad Benavides triumphs in F3 on his last attempt.
F2:
Luke Browning earned his first Aramco Pole Position Award, ending Qualifying fastest of all for Hitech TGR in Monza. The Williams Racing Development Driver set a 1:32.390 to lead the field ahead of Richard Verschoor and Kush Maini of DAMS Lucas Oil, though the MP Motorsport driver’s result could yet lose his time for bringing out a Red Flag at the end of the session.
There was no great rush to get out of the pitlane as everyone aimed for the ideal track conditions and a slipstream from a rival. Alexander Dunne opted to go without a tow, and he set the pace early on with a 1:33.554. Verschoor bettered that, before teammate Oliver Goethe went quicker still, a 1:32.817 the next benchmark to beat. Maini obliged to go 0.082s quicker than the MP driver.
The Red Flags were waving before anyone could deliver a second attempt after Gabriele Minì came to a halt between the two Lesmo corners. AIX Racing’s Cian Shields also stopped on track and needed recovering before the session resumed with 17 minutes remaining. Browning then delivered a 1:32.390 to go quickest on the next set of laps for Hitech, 0.3s quicker than Verschoor in P2.
Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli had looked like setting a competitive time, but he too came to a halt on track, bringing out the second Red Flag of the session. The session resumed with a reduced time remaining and plenty of drivers looking for an improvement.
Verschoor wanted a tow but had to lead the pack as the next set of laps got underway. A spin at the first Lesmo though left the Dutchman in the barriers and brought out the Red Flags for the third time. With less than two minutes to go, the session was not resumed, and it left Browning on pole for the Feature Race.
Verschoor had been second but having been the sole cause of the Red Flag, may lose his laptime. Maini wound up third ahead of Roman Stanek and Goethe in fifth. Dunne finished up sixth ahead of Arvid Lindblad, Joshua Duerksen, Fornaroli and Sami Meguetounif in P10.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1963974673974137342
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of Qualifying for Round 11 in Monza, MP Motorsport driver Richard Verschoor has had his fastest time deleted. The driver of Car 6 spun at the exit of Turn 6 causing the session to be Red Flagged. This means as the sole cause of the stoppage, Verschoor breached Article 33.5 of the FIA Formula 2 Sporting Regulations.
The Stewards heard from both the driver and team representative following the session and examined available video evidence. The Stewards found no external contributing factors and with the team and driver finding no mechanical issues as a reason for the incident, it was determined that Verschoor was the sole cause of the Red Flag. As a result, Verschoor loses his fastest time, which drops him from second to P14 in the final classification, promoting Kush Maini on to the front row.
F3:
GROUP A –
Nikita Johnson and Roman Bilinski were the first ones out of the pitlane at the green light, with the rest of the field joining them out on track with over five minutes to go. Rafael Câmara’s only lap put him P1 with a 1:38.520, just 0.093s clear of Ugo Ugochukwu, with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in third. Alessandro Giusti, Tim Tramnitz and Callum Voisin, having been at the front of the field, were the only ones able to continue on for a second lap.
But just as they did that, Câmara’s time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 5. Giusti then completed his lap to go to P4 ahead of his MP Motorsport teammate, while Voisin wound up 10th in the group. This left Ugochukwu on top of the group and on provisional pole with a 1:38.613. Inthraphuvasak was 0.013s behind in second, with Bilinski third ahead of Giusti, Tramnitz and Laurens van Hoepen in P6.
GROUP B –
The next set of 15 made their way out on track immediately at the green light with 1:38.613 the time to beat for pole. Noah Stromsted was quickest after the first set of laps on a 1:38.647, just 0.014s ahead of PREMA’s Noel León with Théophile Nael in P3.
Mari Boya then went to P1 but was quickly beaten by Charlie Wurz and then Tuukka Taponen, who was on provisional pole with a 1:38.502s, as Martinius Stenshorne went 0.058s behind in P2. The Hitech TGR driver was the only member of the field not able to push on for a third lap and there were several improvements, before Benavides took a second pole of the season with a 1:38.120s.
León was second in the group ahead of Nikola Tsolov, and Matías Zagazeta, as Taponen and Stenshorne slipped to fifth and sixth respectively. This means van Hoepen is set to start from reverse grid pole with Stenshorne joining him on the front row for Saturday’s Sprint Race.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1963958964439196056
[The story is as per press release]