In arguably the most prestigious race weekend on the Formula 3 calendar, it was the Alpine Academy drivers who stole the show – with Nikola Tsolov scoring his maiden win in the sprint and Gabriele Minì taking the championship lead thanks to his feature race success. Feeder Series analyses the main stories from round four of the season.

By Daniele Spadi

Alpine Academy success

Coming into the fourth race weekend of 2024, not only did F3 have six different race winners, but five of them are part of a driver academy, though Martinius Stenshorne won in Melbourne before being signed to the McLaren Driver Development Programme. The only other academy present on the 2024 F3 grid not to have taken a win was Alpine – but that changed in the Principality.

On Friday, it was Prema’s Minì who once again showed to be one of the fastest drivers around the streets of Monaco, taking pole position for the feature race. After setting the sixth fastest time in the second group, Tsolov would earn reverse-grid pole for the sprint – which the ART driver converted to a convincing victory, becoming the first Bulgarian ever on the top step of the podium in an F1 weekend.

On Sunday, all eyes were on Minì. The Italian led the race from start to finish, taking home a second consecutive feature race win in Monaco after last year’s success. 

“I don’t know if there’s a real reason,” Minì told Feeder Series when asked why he is so competitive around the Monegasque streets. “We’ve been strong here already last year. We’ve been strong also in Macau and we’ve been strong again in Monaco this year. Everything is tighter, everything seems a bit quicker [here]. I just do what I think is good and it works.”

The Italian was therefore able to capture his first win of the season – becoming the eighth different winner in as many races this year – taking the championship lead in the process. Both he and Tsolov joined the Alpine Academy before the start of the 2024 season – a decision that ultimately paid dividends in Monaco.

A team reborn

2023 was one of ART’s weakest seasons in F3. The team that took home the drivers’ title with Victor Martins the previous year looked strong in the first three rounds of the season thanks to Grégoire Saucy’s performances, but a sub-par second half of the season saw them slip to eighth in the teams’ standings come the end of the year.

Looking for a fresh start in 2024, the team retained Tsolov while bringing in two new drivers: former Campos driver Christian Mansell and FRECA graduate Laurens van Hoepen. Feeder Series spoke to the Australian ahead of the 2024 season about his switch to the French outfit and the ultimate goal to bring them back to where they belong – and so far, that looks to be the case.

ART was able to collect three podium finishes in Monaco. Van Hoepen joined Tsolov on the podium in the sprint, whereas Mansell converted a front row start to second place on Sunday. The team has earned 85 points this season – 14 more than their entire 2023 tally – which is enough to see them up in third position and tied with Campos in the team’s standings. With six podiums to their name and two drivers in the top 10 in the drivers’ championship, it seems like ART is on its way back to the front of the field.

It goes without saying that Monaco is a particular weekend where qualifying matters the most, but seeing a team that once used to fight for podiums and race wins finally start to crack the code once more is a delight to see.

British surprise

Coming into round four of 2024, Rodin was the only team yet to score points. The team has struggled throughout the opening three races, with a 14^th place being their best result. However, something switched in Monaco; be it the different qualifying format or a shift in the drivers’ mindset, but Rodin looked to be quick for the first time this season.

Though reigning GB3 champion Callum Voisin was also very fast around the streets of Monaco – finishing 12th and 13th in the two races – it was Joseph Loake who shone in the Principality. The Briton finished an impressive fourth in his group during qualifying, racing impeccably throughout the weekend despite this being his debut in Monaco. Loake used the reverse grid format to his advantage to finish fifth in the sprint, before securing ninth position in the feature race to take home a total of eight points – enough to put Rodin ahead of AIX in the standings. 

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency