The Monza Race Pack

8 September 2022

Eight rounds, 16 races and a bevy of battles later, the curtains are about to close on another exhilaring season with Round 9 in Monza about to get underway. But before that, our most important question awaits - who will be crowned the 2022 FIA Formula 3 Champion?

Get ready for the most extraordinary season finale yet, with a whopping seven drivers still in with a chance of glory. There's no better place to settle the score than the Temple of Speed and as the battle won't be concluded until Sunday, you'll be on the edge of your seats to see who will follow in Dennis Hauger's footsteps and reign supreme.

WHAT TO EXPECT

With a maximum of 39 points still to play for and 36 points separating them, seven drivers are mathematically in contention to be crowned. It's advantage Victor Martins after his return to form at Zandvoort. The Frenchman sits at the top of the standings on 126 points, five points clear of compatriot Isack Hadjar.

Consistency has been the name of the game for Roman Stanek, as three top four finishes across the past two rounds have allowed the Trident driver to leapfrog Oliver Bearman for third on 109. The only driver to have claimed two consecutive Feature Race victories, Zane Maloney skyrockets up to fifth, demoting PREMA Racing duo Arthur Leclerc and Jak Crawford down to sixth and seventh respectively.

Regardless of where the Championship leader finishes on Saturday, the fight will go all the way down to the wire, with the title being decided at the Feature Race finish line.

Meanwhile, the Teams' Championship could be decided on Saturday. If PREMA Racing can score 14 points more than nearest rivals - reigning Champions Trident - they'll take the title for the third time in FIA F3 history.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

After being forced to sit out the previous three rounds due to a broken wrist he sustained during the Spielberg Sprint Race, Hunter Yeany returns to the grid with Campos Racing, replacing Sebastian Montoya.

Alessandro Famularo will take up the reigns of the red, white and blue #15 Charouz Racing System car for the final round, taking over from David Schumacher.

Lastly, Brad Benavides carries a three-place grid drop into this weekend after the Carlin driver caused a collision with William Alatalo during last Sunday’s Feature Race.

WHERE TO WATCH THE SESSIONS

FROM THE GRID – Caio Collet, MP Motorsport

“I’ve been to Monza twice, and it was where I got my first win in Eurocup in 2020. I love the track, I love the place, I mean what’s not to like about Monza! It’s a track that is mainly on the driver, you have just a few corners, so you need to be on point with everything that you do. Also, you run with really low aero grip so it’s tough with the braking and at both Lesmo and Ascari. It's not easy to put a lap together, especially in Qualifying with everyone searching for a slipstream and a tow. It’s easy to get in a place where you’re not well positioned, but to race there, I think it’s one of the best races on the calendar.

“Qualifying is not an easy session. You need to be on point with your engineer and place yourself really well on track because everyone will stop in Sector 3 to get a tow. I don’t think it will be any different this year, especially for the guys in front fighting for the Championship. It is always tough for them because they have everything to lose and some guys in my position have nothing to lose in the last round. Hopefully we can place ourselves right and see. It’s a tough, tough session, it depends on how the driver reacts and what he wants to do.

“It’s one of the easiest tracks to overtake on, especially with DRS. Even in junior categories where you don’t have DRS, you can see a lot of overtakes in Monza because of the huge straights and chicanes afterwards. It's a track where if you qualify in the top eight or seven, you still have a chance to win the race – the opposite of Budapest. It opens the opportunities up a little bit and if Qualifying didn’t go well, you can still do a really good race.

“Tyre degradation isn’t really a concern. There are just a few corners, nice braking zones obviously but not a lot of lateral use of the tyre. You keep the tyres alive for basically the whole race, so you can really push. It’s what makes it really nice in the race because you see through all the laps, the guys are pushing and fighting for it.

“Being on the podium in the Feature Race would be a really nice way to close the season. Obviously, I’m not just looking at the race, I think if we can get to a nice place in the Championship, I think a top five is still possible. Hopefully a top five and to finish on the podium will be a dream.”

LAST TIME OUT - ZANDVOORT

Formula 3's return to Zandvoort gave us thrills, spills and tears of joy, all the while the Dutch circuit began to set the stage for the most highly-contested fight for the title in Formula 3 history.

Zane Maloney's resurgence continue as the Trident driver became the first repeat pole sitter of the 2022 season. He wasn't the only one to put his best foot forward on Friday, Victor Martins' title fight flared back to life as he secured his place alongside the rookie on the Feature Race front row.

For the second weekend in a row, some Championship contenders soared whilst others stumbled. Roman Stanek, Jak Crawford and Isack Hadjar claimed spots just behind the leading duo. Meanwhile, it was PREMA's Oliver Bearman and Arthur Leclerc who found themselves getting caught out by a last-minute Red Flag, stopping their best laps in their tracks and forcing them to settle for P14 and P20 respectively.

Caio Collet secured his second win of the season straight off the line in the Sprint Race, making the best of his opportunities off the line from fourth to snatch the lead and carried on into the distance, finishing four seconds clear at the chequered flag. There were cheers all round as reverse pole-sitter Juan Manuel Correa got his elbows out to bring home an emotional maiden podium in second, his first since recovering from his 2019 accident and Zak O'Sullivan returned to the rostrum by taking third for Carlin.

In the title fight, Hadjar, Martins, Crawford and Stanek all managed to add points to their tallies, whilst Bearman and Leclerc were unable to find their way into the top 10.

Sunday saw Maloney throw down the gauntlet to his rivals and put himself right in the mix with the leaders, after the Bajan rookie claimed back-to-back Feature Race victories in style. Losing the lead to Martins off the line and having made his way through the first of three Safety Car restarts, Maloney bounced back. Returning the favour to the ART Grand Prix driver, he recreated his earlier move to great effect to reclaim the lead on Lap 12 and held him at bay all the way to the line to add the full 25 points to his total.

Franco Colapinto took full advantage of Crawford's error to take third at Van Amersfoort Racing's home race, while Stanek, Hadjar and Crawford completed the top six. Ending his Formula 3 debut weekend on a high, Sebastian Montoya claimed points for the second race in a row in eighth.

Leclerc could only make his way as far up as P12, while Bearman's fightback was left unrewarded. The Briton had cracked the top 10 at the chequered flag, but a drive-through-penalty for failing to maintain the proper gap behind the Safety Car demoted him to last.

TYRE TALK

For only the second time this season, the drivers will be using the red-walled soft Pirelli compound this weekend. Additionally, the field will have an extra set of medium tyres available from Zandvoort to play with in Practice.

Mario Isola, Pirelli Motorsport Director

“After a very close and exciting Formula 3 season, it will be a special moment to see the champion crowned at Monza: our home circuit, close to the Pirelli headquarters in Milan. Whoever comes out on top and wins the title will also receive 300,000 Euros from Pirelli to help them graduate to Formula 2 next season, as part of our long-standing commitment to promoting talented young drivers. The P Zero Red soft compound is nominated this weekend, as in previous years at Monza, although drivers will also have a set of the medium compound carried over from Zandvoort for use in free practice; the versatility of this compound will be useful when it comes to establishing a set-up.”

KEY STATS

A remarkable seven drivers are currently in contention for the title, three of which are rookies.
Zane Maloney became the first repeat polesitter of the season when he qualified P1 in Zandvoort. The Bajan driver scored his maiden pole position in Round 2 in Imola.
Victor Martins is only 27.5 points shy of the all-time record for career points in Formula 3, an accolade currently held by Frederik Vesti.
Trident’s Zane Maloney scored a hat trick in the Zandvoort Feature Race, picking up the points for pole position, the race victory and the fastest lap.
Martins, Isack Hadjar, and Arthur Leclerc all have three victories in Formula 3, a win for any of them in Monza would see them equal the record (4) currently held by Vesti, Jack Doohan and Dennis Hauger.
The lap record at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza is 1:38.834, set by Christian Lundgaard with ART Grand Prix in 2019.

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