Tsolov quickest, Stromsted crashes in F3 practice on streets of Monaco

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov ended FIA Formula 3’s 45-minute practice session in Monaco atop the timesheet.

MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz led the field out of the pits and therefore had cleaner air than most.

Six minutes in he posted a 1m36.685s, and there were improvements on the next laps as ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen set a 1m30.619s.

That was bettered by Trident’s Noah Stromsted and Rafael Camara eight-and-a-half minutes in.

Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Bilinski was first to lap sub-1m30s, and was swiftly outpaced by team-mate Callum Voisin who set a 1m29.512s. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos got within 0.069 seconds of that, and when MP’s drivers came through Tramnitz lowered the pace to 1m28.875s.

Alessandro Giusti set a 1m28.989s to be second, and Hitech GP’s Martinius Stenshorne was third after 10 minutes.

Voisin moved back ahead with a 1m28.6s two minutes later, and Bilinski improved to fourth. But when Tramnitz crossed the line he set a 1m27.733s, and Stenshorne posted a 1m28.583s to demote Voisin to third. Tsolov got between them with a 1m28.46s.

One third of the way through practice, a 1m28.236s put Ramos into second and Bilinski improved in sixth.

VAR’s Ivan Domingues cut Tramnitz’s advantage to 0.385s, then moments later Giusti slashed it to 0.243s. MP’s Bruno del Pino got into seventh, as Tramnitz lowered the pace again to 1m27.459s.

Stromsted and team-mate Charlie Wurz jumped to third and fifth on their next laps, with points leader Camara in 21st.

AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides became Tramnitz’s closest rival 19 minutes in, setting a 1m27.943s, but MP had more pace in hand. Giusti’s 1m27.174s lap put him ahead, but Tramnitz was 0.082s quicker.

Prema’s Noel Leon leapt to fourth ahead of the improving Stenshorne, before Tsolov set a 1m27.431s to sit third.

Wurz and Stromsted were next to set personal bests in fourth and fifth, as Camara climbed to seventh by breaking into the 1m27s.

Two minutes after he did that, Tramnitz and Giusti moved into the 1m26s. Tsolov, Stromsted and del Pino improved in third, fourth and 10th as others pitted. Camara made another small gain in eighth, with Bilinksi holding sixth.

Stromsted was the last driver left on track, 25 minutes in, and he went quickest in sector one. Personal bests in the other two built to a 1m27.137s that put him third.

On the second runs, Rodin’s Louis Sharp was the only driver to set a personal best before Stromsted crashed at turn one and red flags waved with 11 minutes to go. Practice restarted with six minutes left, sans Stromsted.

Tramnitz set the fastest first and second sector splits with two-and-a-half minutes to go but did not improve his laptime, and then lost top spot to Campos’s Mari Boya who set a 1m26.393s.

Leon soon went third with a 1m26.786s, then Camara, Benavides and Bilinski were swapping places in the top five.

Voisin lowered the pace to 1m26.187s as the chequered flag waved, and Stenshorne got within 0.173s of him before Tramnitz powered through with a 1m25.841s.

Tsolov later crossed the line in 1m25.622s, Wurz pipped Camara to third by 0.023s and Leon demoted Stenshorne to seventh.

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