Formula 3 provided a great spectacle in 2024, with plenty of star performances and a season-long title fight decided at the final corner of the final race of the season. Before casting our eyes to 2025, we look back one last time at the five drivers who exceeded expectations the most throughout the year…

By Daniele Spadi

5. Laurens van Hoepen (P13, 58 points)

Van Hoepen earned his spot on this list thanks to a compelling rookie campaign that came after two unremarkable years in FRegional Europe in which he finished 21st and 10th.

The ART Grand Prix driver was quick off the marks at the season opener in Bahrain, leading most of the sprint race before ultimately finishing second behind teammate Nikola Tsolov. The 19-year-old started racking up points quickly, especially on Saturdays. Two podiums in Melbourne and Monaco and three further top-seven finishes until round six at the Red Bull Ring made Van Hoepen into a stable presence in the points during sprint races.

He was the only driver to score in nine of 10 sprint races throughout the season, missing out only in the final one in Monza by finishing 13th from 29th on the grid. Misfortune and a lack of qualifying pace, however, meant the Dutchman failed to score in any of the first five feature races. That changed in Austria, where Van Hoepen crossed the line in eighth position while also setting the fastest lap.

At round eight in Hungary, the Dutch driver secured his first pole position of the season ahead of Tsolov, though he lost the lead to his Bulgarian teammate into Turn 1. He still stuck with him throughout the race and crossed the line in second place before being disqualified for having an underweight car. That dealt the 19-year-old a blow in the standings, but he still finished the season collecting more points with 10th in the Spa sprint race and eighth in the last race of the season from the back row of the grid.

Overall, Van Hoepen failed to finish inside the top 15 in just three of the 20 races – an impressive feat in F3, especially for a rookie. His consistency, combined with the three podiums he claimed at the start of the season, helped the Dutchman finish in 13th place in the drivers’ standings.

In 2025, Van Hoepen will have another chance in F3, as ART retained the 19-year-old for a second season in the series.

4. Arvid Lindblad (P4, 113 points)

In 2023, Lindblad made an impact on the single-seater scene by winning on his first F4 UAE weekend and dominating the first half of the Italian F4 season. But a lacklustre second part of the year saw him lose the latter title to Poland’s Kacper Sztuka, who gained 170 points on him in the last three rounds, and called into question his ability to stay consistent over a season.

As he headed to F3 with Prema Racing, the Red Bull junior driver immediately left his mark on the series by winning on debut in the Bahrain sprint race and scoring four more points with eighth the next day. He followed that up with more strong performances, missing the points only three times in the first seven rounds while also claiming his maiden feature race win in Barcelona.

The highlight of Lindblad’s season came in Silverstone as he looked for a way back into the championship fight at his home race. A great start in the sprint from P2 on the grid enabled Lindblad to take the lead on the opening lap before he dominated the rest of the race to claim victory.

His feature race performance, however, was even more impressive; in a race affected by unpredictable weather conditions, Lindblad ultimately chose the right tyre compound – slicks – and climbed all the way up to second, which became first after he crossed the line as race leader Callum Voisin had an in-race time penalty applied.

The Briton’s head-turning double victory put him second in the standings, just six points behind championship leader Gabriele Minì. But as in his Italian F4 campaign last year, the 17-year-old fell off the pace in the last three rounds of the season, failing to score a single point after his historic performance.

Lindblad finished his rookie F3 season in fourth with 113 points, a field-high four wins and one additional podium to his name. An overall standout campaign has helped him earn a step up to F2 with Campos Racing next year.

3. Christian Mansell (P5, 112 points)

After a promising rookie campaign with Campos in 2023, Mansell joined ART for his second F3 season. The Australian made his intentions clear straight from the beginning, finishing the opening feature race of the season in second place after starting in eighth. But with only two points in the following five races, it appeared as though the 19-year-old was struggling to find a consistent rhythm.

Things changed in Monaco, where Mansell qualified on the front row of the grid and took second in the feature race. The following round in Barcelona, he scored his maiden pole position and once again crossed the line second on Sunday.

Top-five finishes in both Spielberg and Hungaroring races helped elevate him to within 22 points of the championship lead with two rounds to go, but he lacked consistency relative to his rivals. After a scoreless weekend in Silverstone, Mansell failed to score again at Spa after qualifying 20th. That all but eliminated his title hopes.

Still, Mansell played a crucial role in the final feature race of the season. He fought against both Minì and Leonardo Fornaroli up until the final corner of the race, when the latter pulled off the championship-winning overtake for third on track. 

After Minì’s disqualification from the race, the Australian inherited the position anyways. His fourth podium of the season propelled him to fifth in the drivers’ standings with 112 points.

Mansell then drove for Trident in the last six races of the F2 season and scored 10 points in total, including two during his debut weekend in Baku. Mansell will join the series full-time with Rodin in 2025.

2. Noel León (P10, 79 points)

As the 2023 Euroformula Open champion, León joined F3 in 2024 with high hopes but without having had his speed and racecraft tested at such a level. Many expected him to fight Sophia Floersch for VAR’s leading driver spot, but León dominated the battle, scoring 79 of the team’s 91 points and finishing in the top 10 in the drivers’ standings.

León finished second overall in pre-season testing but failed to score in the opening two weekends of the season. In Imola, he qualified 11th and therefore lined up on the front row of the grid for the sprint race.

After taking the lead into Tamburello on the opening lap, he kept it until the end of the race, when he dropped to third after a late virtual safety car intervention and a post-race time penalty dropped him to third.

León excelled in sprint races, his highlight being second place at Silverstone, but he only took his first feature race podium at round eight in Hungary. He followed that second-place finish with third and fourth at Spa and seventh in the final race at Monza.

León never qualified in the top three in 2024, but he added racecraft to his previously demonstrated raw speed. His impressive rookie season has earned him a drive with reigning teams’ champions Prema for 2025.

1. Callum Voisin (P12, 67 points)

Voisin joined Rodin, then Carlin, for his single-seater debut back in 2022 and graduated to F3 with the team in 2024 as the reigning GB3 champion. While that was a prestigious credential, he joined an F3 squad that scored only two points in 2023 

Voisin completed three of the first four races ahead of teammates Joseph Loake and Piotr Wiśnicki, but his best finish was only 17th. Loake finally put 10 points on the board for the team at Monaco, where Voisin finished 12th and 13th. The 18-year-old, however, had yet to score after six rounds. The Briton’s chance finally came in Silverstone, where he ended a wet qualifying session ninth and in a prime position to score points. He took the chance with both hands in the delayed sprint race, crossing the line fourth place.

His most spectacular performance, however, came thanks to the masterful decision to start the wet-dry feature race on slicks. This catapulted the 18-year-old to the front of the field from eighth by lap three, though he then fell back to 21st after a rain shower and had to claw the positions again. Voisin did so and crossed the line in first place, but he was demoted to third after a penalty for overtaking off track during the race was applied.

Impressively, Voisin sustained that level in the following rounds. He finished both races at the Hungaroring in sixth before taking a surprise pole in Spa. There, the 18-year-old led the feature race from start to finish, scoring his and Rodin’s maiden F3 victory in dominant fashion.

Voisin completed his impressive rookie campaign with 67 points, two podiums and 12th place in the drivers’ standings. He will stay with Rodin for a second F3 campaign and, if provided with a competitive car, could be a dark horse for the title.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency