Fornaroli leads Trident 1-2 in Formula 3 qualifying at Silverstone

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli scored his first FIA Formula 3 pole by topping qualifying at Silverstone ahead of team-mate Oliver Goethe.

Gabriele Mini set an opening benchmark of 1m46.619s in the 30-minute session, but he was almost immediately beaten by his Hitech GP team-mate Luke Browning, who continued his pacesetting form from practice with a 1m46.250s.

Points leader Gabriel Bortoleto went second quickest on his first lap, 0.056 seconds shy of Browning, demoting Goethe to third. Prema driver Paul Aron moved ahead just after the 10-minute mark with a 1m46.191s to lead Browning by 0.059s.

The top of the timesheet changed again a few minutes later, as Fornaroli set a blistering 1m45.717s to go quickest by almost half a second.

MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto soon improved to second, while his team-mate Mari Boya briefly moved up to fourth before his laptime was deleted for exceeding track limits. Goethe also improved to demote Browning to fifth.

There was a flurry of activity inside the final four minutes, with Mini climbing to second with a 1m46.040s and Browning lapping just 0.006s slower than the Italian to move into third. But the pair were beaten moments later by Aron, who posted a 1m45.950s.

Having remained at the top, Fornaroli went even faster on his final lap to end with a 1m45.520s and secure pole for Sunday’s feature race, with Goethe also improving into second.

Pepe Marti snatched third on his final effort, almost a quarter of second behind Goethe, while his Campos Racing team-mate Christian Mansell put in a late flying lap to secure fourth.

Bortoleto had a laptime deleted in the closing stages, but made his final lap count to move up to fifth ahead of Aron, who also improved before the chequered flag.

Mini and Browning were not able to improve, the latter slowing on his final lap, and the pair slipped back to seventh and eighth. Colapinto improved at the end to seal ninth, while Jenzer Motorsport’s Taylor Barnard was 10th.

Boya initially took 11th, only for his fastest lap to be deleted, with his team-mate Johnny Edgar taking the position instead. Boya’s penalty promoted Sebastian Montoya to 12th, provisionally giving the Hitech driver pole for the reversed-grid sprint race.

Prema’s Zak O’Sullivan qualified 15th on home soil, while Max Esterson was the quickest of the Rodin Carlin drivers in 24th on his debut. Dino Beganovic suffered a blow to his title hopes after an issue left him the pitlane throughout the session and he did not record a laptime.

Qualifying results