Photo: Prema
Dino Beganovic launched his bid for the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship with a first pole position in Bahrain qualifying ahead of fellow pre-season favourites Luke Browning and Gabriele Mini.
The full Prema and Hitech squads were among the drivers who aborted their first runs at the start of the session without setting a competitive time. Max Esterson initially set the pace but later had his time deleted, leaving Leonardo Fornaroli on top ahead of Trident team-mate Sami Meguetounif.
Fornaroli went fastest again on the second runs in the middle of the session, with Beganovic slotting into second place and Mini into fourth.
It would be a third and final set of runs at the chequered flag that would prove decisive, however. Browning briefly went top before Beganovic bettered his effort by 0.167 seconds, recording a 1m46.431s. Mini had to make do with third, just 0.003s further back.
Trident confirmed its pace by filling out the next three places, its rookies Meguetounif and Santiago Ramos ultimately beating sopohomore Fornaroli, the trio covered by just one hundredth of a second.
Tim Tramnitz took seventh for MP Motorsport ahead of ART Grad Prix’s Christian Mansell, with Prema rookie Arvid Lindblad ninth. Esterston made the top 10 for Jenzer Motorsport at the third attempt, having not had a legal and competitive time to his name before his final effort.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gaps | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dino Beganovic | Prema | 1m46.431s | 10 | |
| 2 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 1m46.598s | +0.167s | 10 |
| 3 | Gabriele Mini | Prema | 1m46.601s | +0.170s | 10 |
| 4 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 1m46.795s | +0.364s | 11 |
| 5 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 1m46.798s | +0.367s | 11 |
| 6 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 1m46.805s | +0.374s | 11 |
| 7 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 1m46.828s | +0.397s | 11 |
| 8 | Christian Mansell | ART Grand Prix | 1m46.843s | +0.412s | 11 |
| 9 | Arvid Lindblad | Prema | 1m46.873s | +0.442s | 10 |
| 10 | Max Esterson | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m46.934s | +0.503s | 11 |
| 11 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix | 1m46.941s | +0.510s | 11 |
| 12 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix | 1m46.962s | +0.531s | 11 |
| 13 | Noel Leon | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m47.031s | +0.600s | 11 |
| 14 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 1m47.133s | +0.702s | 12 |
| 15 | Mari Boya | Campos Racing | 1m47.170s | +0.739s | 11 |
| 16 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m47.191s | +0.760s | 10 |
| 17 | Oliver Goethe | Campos Racing | 1m47.198s | +0.767s | 11 |
| 18 | Nikita Bedrin | PHM Racing | 1m47.209s | +0.778s | 11 |
| 19 | Callum Voisin | Rodin Motorsport | 1m47.216s | +0.785s | 11 |
| 20 | Matias Zagazeta | PHM Racing | 1m47.217s | +0.786s | 10 |
| 21 | Joseph Loake | Rodin Motorsport | 1m47.219s | +0.788s | 11 |
| 22 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 1m47.471s | +1.040s | 11 |
| 23 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | PHM Racing | 1m47.735s | +1.304s | 11 |
| 24 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 1m47.745s | +1.314s | 11 |
| 25 | Sophia Floersch | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m47.812s | +1.381s | 11 |
| 26 | Joshua Dufek | PHM Racing | 1m47.878s | +1.447s | 7 |
| 27 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m47.929s | +1.498s | 11 |
| 28 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin Motorsport | 1m47.971s | +1.540s | 11 |
| 29 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos Racing | 1m48.358s | +1.927s | 11 |
| 30 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 1m48.565s | +2.134s | 11 |