Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Trident emerged triumphant from a chaotic FIA Formula 3 qualifying session at Monza, as Oliver Goethe took pole but crashed out and Gabriel Bortoleto became champion.
There was drama from the off, with cars queuing up on the back straight before a single laptime had been set and red flags being waved after Ido Cohen was spun around by Rodin Carlin team-mate Ollie Gray after slowing to avoid the cars in front of him that were going excessively slowly.
Qualifying was later restarted and the first laptimes came in with 16 minutes to go of the half-hour session. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Caio Collet went fastest, setting a 1m39.001s to lead Prema’s title contender Paul Aron by 0.042 seconds. Goethe was a further 0.012s back, and MP Motorsport’s Jonny Edgar was fourth fastest.
Red flags then waved again less than two minutes later as Campos Racing’s debuting Joshua Dufek spun into the gravel at the second chicane.
Several drivers still had not set a timed lap at this point, and so there was a rush to get just that done when the second restart took place.
Title-elect Bortoleto went fifth fastest with his first lap following the restart on used tyres, and Goethe then went to the top with a 1m38.909s.
After setting that time, Goethe had a huge crash at the second Lesmo and qualifying was stopped – and not restarted – with more than nine minutes left on the clock.
That locked in the top three of Goethe, Collet and Aron, unless Goethe has his fastest lap deleted for causing the red flags, and Aron’s failure to take the points for pole made Bortoleto’s points lead unsurmountable over the next two days.
Trident informed Bortoleto of his crowning in the pitlane, after he had qualified fifth.
The top 10 was completed by Hitech GP’s Gabriele Mini, Prema’s Zak O’Sullivan, Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli, Hitech’s Luke Browning and Jenzer Motorsport’s Taylor Barnard.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gaps | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | 1m38.909s | 5 | |
| 2 | Caio Collet | Vam Amersfoort Racing | 1m39.001s | +0.092s | 3 |
| 3 | Paul Aron | Prema | 1m39.043s | +0.134s | 3 |
| 4 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 1m39.137s | +0.228s | 3 |
| 5 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Trident | 1m39.261s | +0.352s | 5 |
| 6 | Gabriele Mini | Hitech GP | 1m39.288s | +0.379s | 3 |
| 7 | Zak O’Sullivan | Prema | 1m39.319s | +0.410s | 4 |
| 8 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 1m39.340s | +0.431s | 3 |
| 9 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 1m39.442s | +0.533s | 3 |
| 10 | Taylor Barnard | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m39.573s | +0.664s | 3 |
| 11 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix | 1m39.580s | +0.671s | 3 |
| 12 | Gregoire Saucy | ART Grand Prix | 1m39.601s | +0.692s | 3 |
| 13 | Sebastian Montoya | Hitech GP | 1m39.710s | +0.801s | 3 |
| 14 | Mari Boya | MP Motorsport | 1m39.784s | +0.875s | 5 |
| 15 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 1m39.879s | +0.970s | 3 |
| 16 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | 1m40.114s | +1.205s | 3 |
| 17 | Christian Mansell | Campos Racing | 1m40.176s | +1.267s | 4 |
| 18 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m40.203s | +1.294s | 3 |
| 19 | Kaylen Frederick | ART Grand Prix | 1m40.211s | +1.302s | 3 |
| 20 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m40.640s | +1.731s | 3 |
| 21 | Francesco Simonazzi | Carlin | 1m40.650s | +1.912s | 3 |
| 22 | Sophia Floersch | PHM by Charouz | 1m40.661s | +2.286s | 3 |
| 23 | Michael Shin | PHM by Charouz | 1m40.718s | +2.330s | 3 |
| 24 | Joshua Dufek | Campos Racing | 1m40.832s | +2.510s | 3 |
| 25 | Alex Garcia | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m40.908s | +2.513s | 4 |
| 26 | Roberto Faria | PHM by Charouz | 1m40.952s | +3.602s | 4 |
| 27 | Dino Beganovic | Prema | no time | 4 | |
| 28 | Ollie Gray | no time | 2 | ||
| 29 | Ido Cohen | PHM by Charouz | no time | 3 | |
| DNA | Nikita Bedrn | Jenzer Motorsport | no time |