2023 Round 4 post-Qualifying press conference

Thoughts from Minì, Beganovic and Aron

FIA Formula 3: Joining us today are our top three qualifiers for the FIA Formula 3 Feature Race, Gabriele Minì for Hitech Grand Prix, Dino Beganovic for PREMA Racing, and Paul Aron also for PREMA Racing. Starting with you Gabriele, congratulations, what a lap around the streets of Monaco. How was it from the car?

Gabriele Minì: Of course, it was a really good lap and doing it in Monaco feels really special. On the second to last push lap I did a few mistakes, so I was not really happy with it. If there is a lap you can take more risks it's the last lap, so I did. It went well and I did a really good lap so I'm really happy with that.

FIA Formula 3: You were looking on at the first group before you had to take onto the track. Did you learn anything from how they handled the session or was it a nerve-wracking moment?

Minì: Well the only thing is knowing the lap time the others have done, so you can set a lap time for yourself to try and beat. In the end, in terms of managing the session, we knew what the plan was going to be, so I just did what me and the team planned and it worked pretty well.

FIA Formula 3: We know that in Monaco overtaking is always a difficult task, does it feel that starting from pole position for the Feature Race on Sunday is more than half the job done?

Minì: For sure, it's really tricky to overtake in Monaco. We've seen in past races where the leading car was three seconds slower but still maintained the lead. So I think it's 50% of the job done, but then a lot will be at the start because we know if you start P1 but you drop to P2 after the first corner that's pretty much what your finishing order will be.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations Gabriele. Moving on to you Dino, quickest from Group A. We saw how happy you were at the end of the session, and what it meant to you and to the team. Can you tell us how it was from the car?

Dino Beganovic: I was really happy with how I did in qualifying, it meant a lot for me, but also for the team because it's our best quali so far this year and it's a huge step forward after Australia which was a disappointing round from our side. Overall it's all about confidence on this track and I think I showed it from the beginning of the session. Congrats to Gabriele, he did an amazing job.

FIA Formula 3: People usually say that whoever is in the second group is going to be in the fastest group. Did you feel you'd maybe done enough in your group to get pole position?

Beganovic: We predicted that the second group will be quicker, Group A basically cleaned the track from them after the roads were opened yesterday after Free Practice. In the end, it didn't change a huge amount, apart from Gabriele's lap at the end which was amazing. It's difficult to say but in the end, he was quicker and that's the facts.

FIA Formula 3: Congratulations on today Dino. Finally coming to you Paul, second quickest of Group B. Your best qualifying result of Formula 3. How are you feeling right now?

Paul Aron: Like Dino said it's been a great result today for the team. The best qualifying from my side, and also from Dino's as well, so I think we can be quite happy about that. We've made big steps throughout the year so far and we can hopefully continue making them and push ourselves forwards. Obviously, at Monaco, you want to go for pole but I think I can't be too disappointed today looking at what happened last year to me in Monaco. I had the most difficult weekend of my life, I've never felt pain to that level. Coming back to Monaco this year, you have these memories haunting you and I think I've done a great job to push through that bad experience and put together a solid Qualifying. As Dino said, it's all about confidence here.

FIA Formula 3: How important would it be to get a very strong result here in Monaco this weekend?

Aron: I think it's as important as any other weekend, from my personal side, I'm happy and I'm proud of myself that I was able to put together a good qualifying with a solid result. As I said, last year was super difficult and even yesterday was difficult. It would obviously be great to get a podium, and a Feature Race podium this time and actually stand on it as well!

FIA Formula 3: Thank you very much to all.