Luke Browning took the win in safety car filled FIA F2 feature race in Monza, as Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak helps in Campos’ title win in F3.
F2:
With the entire field starting on the Supersoft tyres, Browning got a great start, but Kush Maini bogged down from the front row and dropped down the order. Roman Stanek and Oliver Goethe went wheel-to-wheel at Turns 1 and 2, with the latter coming out on top with second. Duerksen moved himself up to fourth having started from P7 and looked to attack Stanek into Turn 4, but the Czech driver retained third.
Onto Lap 2 and Maini attempted to make amends for his difficult start and battled with Arvid Lindblad at the first chicane. Both went deep into Turn 2, with the DAMS Lucas Oil driver running through the gravel and dropping down to last as a result. Leonardo Fornaroli looked to have a run on Victor Martins into Ascari, but slight contact left the Invicta Racing driver with a missing front wing endplate as they fought over eighth position. The Italian made another move down the outside at Turn 4 on the following lap, but had to take to the escape road, allowing Jak Crawford to move up to P9.
Lap 4 and Goethe had DRS on Browning, and the MP Motorsport driver went by with ease into Turn 1, with the Drag Reduction System giving him the overspeed to take the lead. With the pitlane open for mandatory stops on Lap 7, Goethe was in immediately from the lead, handing over first to Browning, who had Stanek within DRS range and right with him as the pair continued on, choosing not to respond at the end of the lap to the German’s stop.
Alexander Dunne then looked to complete a pass on Duerksen into Ascari but was hit from behind by Lindblad, sending the Rodin Motorsport driver into the barriers, resulting in a Safety Car. That brought everyone into the pitlane for their mandatory stops, and the Campos Racing driver was later assigned a 10-second time penalty for the incident.
Browning re-emerged with the lead ahead of Stanek, but Goethe’s earlier stop left him in eighth as Duerksen, Lindblad, Martins, Gabriele Minì and Rafael Villagómez were able to pit and come out ahead of the Red Bull Junior Team member. The Hitech TGR race leader got back underway with a late restart entering the start/finish straight, and Stanek looked to have a good run into the first corner.
Just behind however, Lindblad suffered another lock-up and couldn’t avoid the Invicta driver, resulting in contact that left both out of the race and brought the Safety Car out once again. Martins was also involved in drama at Turn 1, as he was tagged into a spin by Minì, dropping from fifth and was another retirement under the Safety Car. Racing resumed entering Lap 14, and Duerksen had a great run through the final corner, leaving Browning unable to prevent the AIX driver seizing the lead into Turn 1.
Sami Meguetounif was the next to come unstuck at Turn 1, spinning into retirement and another Safety Car was called upon. The action got back underway at the end of Lap 16 and the race leader kept hold of P1 on the restart. Fornaroli had to run off the track and gave up fifth to title rival Crawford as the Italian rejoined ahead of Turn 3. Onto Lap 19 and Browning had DRS once again and he was able to slipstream his way back through for the race lead into the first corner.
Fornaroli was back on the attack and into fifth with DRS on Lap 20, clearing Crawford ahead of Turn 1. Another title contender was on the move as Richard Verschoor moved into the points in P10 with a late dive on Sebastián Montoya at Turn 4. Home favourite Minì was up to sixth with a late-braking manoeuvre on Crawford at Turn 1 on Lap 23. One lap later and Beganovic was through down the main straight to move up to seventh in his Hitech.
Having moved clear of Crawford, Beganovic continued his charge at the expense of Minì on Lap 26, diving to the inside at Turn 1 to take sixth form himself. Verschoor was up to ninth behind them after the Dutch driver pulled off a pass on teammate Goethe. Crawford was the next to be passed by Verschoor on Lap 27 at the first corner. The fight for the final podium place was a three-car battle as Browning broke out of DRS range to Duerksen behind.
It was Martí that made the first move in that fight with a late dive on Villagómez at Turn 1 to move himself up to third, while the Van Amersfoort driver had to skip across the chicane. Onto the final lap and Martí tried another late dive at Turn 1 but locked up and had to take to the escape road. Their fighting meant Browning was clear by over three seconds as he claimed his maiden win in the Championship ahead of Duerksen and Martí. Fornaroli held off Beganovic by just 0.077s for fourth. Minì followed in seventh having gone from 15th on the grid, as Verschoor, Montoya and John Bennett completed the points in 10th.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1964611823061320162
UPDATE: Following the conclusion of the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race at Monza, Arvid Lindblad has received post-race penalties. Firstly, the Campos driver had been assigned a 10-second time penalty in race for causing a collision with Car 17 of Alexander Dunne in an earlier incident. Lindblad failed to serve the 10-seconds during the race and as a result, the Stewards have applied a five-place grid penalty to Car 4. He will serve the penalty at the next race in which he competes.
Finally, Car 4 was involved in a second incident with Car 2 at Turn 1 at a Safety Car restart, and following the race, the Stewards determined that Car 4 had been wholly at fault for the contact, and as a result, applied a 10-second time penalty. Due to Lindblad not finishing the Monza Feature Race, his 10-second time penalty has been converted to a five-place grid drop. The Briton is set to serve the penalty at the next race in which he competes.
F3:
It was an even start at the front for pole-sitter Brad Benavides and front row starter Ugo Ugochukwu, as they maintained their positions, while León and Inthraphuvasak went side-by-side into Turn 4 for P3. The Campos driver took P3, but while they were battling for position, TRIDENT’s title hopes took a massive hit, as Charlie Wurz stopped on track with damage. This brought out the Safety Car, but racing resumed on Lap 3 of 22, with Tsolov the next Campos to get past León, this time for P4 and into Turn 1.
Up ahead, Ugochukwu was right on the back of Benavides and the pair went wheel-to-wheel into Turn 4. The AIX driver ran wide at the corner though, and while he maintained the position, he was told to give his American counterpart the place. Benavides did so heading into the final corner, which allowed him to get the run on Ugochukwu down the main straight. He used this to retake the lead into Turn 1, as Inthraphuvasak followed him through.
However, onto Lap 4 and Ugochukwu went around the outside of his Campos rival for P2 at Turn 4, putting him back up to second. The Safety Car was back out to recover Fernando Barrichello’s car from the Ascari chicane, but the green flags were waved to kick off racing on Lap 7. Inthraphuvasak was struggling and dropped to third behind Tsolov and León. Benavides was resisting each one of Ugochukwu’s attempts to overtake, both into Turn 1 and Turn 4.
However, the PREMA driver’s race soon ended at the Ascari chicane, as a slight touch with the gravel sent him into a spin and knocked him out of the running, bringing out the Safety Car. Back to racing on Lap 11 and Benavides once again had a good restart, as Tsolov came under pressure from León. The Bulgarian quickly turned defence to attack though and was right on the back of Benavides heading into the final corner and took the lead into Turn 1. However, the AIX driver was refusing to give up on a maiden win and went around the outside of Tsolov at Turn 4 to take back P1.
Inthraphuvasak was on the charge and got ahead of León for third at the start of Lap 14. However, TRIDENT was now back in play for the title, as Noah Stromsted climbed up to sixth while Rafael Câmara was 10th, having started last. That was aided by Matías Zagazeta stopping on track with front wing damage. The DAMS Lucas Oil driver collided with Martinius Stenshorne and then Tuukka Taponen, which sent him off at Ascari and forced him to stop at the final corner.
Inthraphuvasak though clearly had eyes on a third win of the season as he dived to the inside of his teammate for P2 at the Ascari chicane, although the Bulgarian took it back at Turn 1 on Lap 16. Behind them, Câmara had charged up to sixth, despite going on the grass briefly on the run down to the final corner, as he got past Taponen, Alessandro Giusti and Stromsted. At the start of Lap 17, Tsolov was having a look at Benavides but then came Inthraphuvasak, who rounded them both into Turn 1 to take the lead.
Benavides was keen to get the place back but ran too deep into Turn 1 on the following lap, and while he came out in front, he gave the positions back. Behind them, Câmara was well within DRS range of the top five, and as Lap 19 of 22 got underway, the Champion dived to the inside of Roman Bilinski at Turn 4, and after running wide at the corner, the Rodin Motorsport driver let Câmara through a few corners later.
Onto the penultimate lap and after biding his time, Tsolov looked to make a move on Inthraphuvasak. The race leader shut the door, but this gave Benavides the run on the P2 driver, although he ran slightly off-line into Turn 4, allowing León through for third. Their squabbling for P3 allowed the Campos duo to go clear as Inthraphuvasak led Tsolov home in a one-two for the team, giving the Spanish outfit the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Teams’ Championship. León held on for third, with Benavides in fourth, Câmara and Stromsted fifth and sixth. Bilinski was seventh, Giusti eighth, Boya ninth as Tramnitz took the final point in P10.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1964586236875853953
Here’s how sprint F2 race panned out: https://www.fiaformula2.com/Latest/4ekGyBr5z68KPaLdUvS1CA/sprint-race-fornaroli-in-formidable-form-in-home-victory-at-monza
Here’s how sprint F3 race panned out: https://www.fiaformula3.com/Latest/2xCtgafGNgw9hENgdZHORJ/sprint-race-impressive-tramnitz-comes-through-to-win-again-in-monza
[The story is as per press release]