The Circuit de Monaco is famously unique, but this weekend’s Formula 2 and Formula 3 action will present a further twist to the usual weekend format. Qualifying will take place in two separate groups, with half the field setting lap times in each session. On the eve of the event, F2’s Pepe Martí and Joshua Dürksen explained the need for the special format.

By Martin Lloyd

Monaco is unlike any other track on the schedule. The 19-turn course is 3.337 kilometres long, the shortest on both the F2 and F3 calendars by almost a kilometre. Clean laps are therefore difficult to find with a full track of 22 F2 or 30 F3 drivers attempting to set fast lap times.

Those laps arguably have more of an impact on finishing positions in the races than on any other track. Narrow, winding and framed by guardrails, Monaco has limited overtaking opportunities, so drivers also tend to take more risks in qualifying.

Since 2012, F2 drivers qualifying at the Principality have been divided into two groups, one for odd-numbered cars and the other for even-numbered cars. Each portion of this session lasts 16 minutes, differing from the usual format of a single 30-minute session held on a Friday afternoon.  

The circuit is neither wide nor long enough for all 22 drivers to set fast laps simultaneously. The split structure dramatically reduces the chances of having a driver catch traffic or a yellow flag while on a crucial lap.

The Monaco qualifying format was first used in 2012 following a chaotic GP2 qualifying in 2011. During that 30-minute session 14 years ago, drivers including Romain Grosjean, Marcus Ericsson and Oliver Turvey were involved in numerous incidents mostly caused by the huge speed differences between cars on flying laps and slower laps.  

Under the current format, drivers in the group with the fastest driver overall will line up in order in the odd-numbered places on the grid, including pole position, for the feature race. In F2, the top 10 are reversed for the sprint race, meaning that a driver from the slower group will start on pole. Grid positions 11 through to 22 remain the same for both races.

Formula 3 also uses the two-group format, with 15 of the 30 cars competing in each 16-minute half of qualifying. The system is identical to F2’s except that the top 12 are reversed for the sprint race.

While qualifying is split into two groups, all cars are on track during the sole 45-minute practice session in each series, which takes place on Thursday in Monaco.

This weekend, both Martí and Dürksen are racing at Monaco in F2 for the second time. In 2023, Martí won F3’s first sprint race at Monaco from the front row after qualifying 11th. Meanwhile, Dürksen first drove at Monaco in 2022 in his first Formula Regional Europe season, qualifying 12th overall.

Martí, who is sixth in the drivers’ standings ahead of this weekend’s action, said that traffic is especially a concern in practice because of the uniquely tight confines of the track.

“The track is 83 seconds long for us,” Martí told Feeder Series at a pre-event media roundtable. “We have 22 drivers in free practice. It’s like four seconds of track for each of us. There’s always going to be some cheeky guys that want six seconds and then some guy will try to get four seconds as well, and for sure the guy at the front will get traffic. 

“Especially for me this weekend, at least for Campos, it’s going to be a little bit tougher for us in FP because we’re dead last in the pitlane. We’re going to have to manage that really well. We’re going to have to be quite aware of our mirrors and in good contact with our engineers.”

Martí and Dürksen both qualified 10th of 11 cars in their respective groups at Monaco last year. Group A’s Richard Verschoor set the fastest time across both sessions, which meant that Dürksen started 19th despite being 0.161s slower than Martí, who lined up 20th.

“If you put 22 cars on track, then it will be real chaos,” Dürksen said. “It will be undriveable. It will be exactly like the traffic in Monaco at 5pm, so you won’t be able to move! It’s good that we have this format. 

“Everybody wants to have a margin and clean air, so maybe the last cars on the grid may collide with the first guys on track coming out.”

Martí started the season well and sat as high as second in the drivers’ standings ahead of last weekend’s Imola round. The Spaniard endured a difficult weekend there, however, after qualifying 11th. In the feature race, he gambled by starting on the longer-lasting soft tyres, only for a mid-race safety car period to nullify any advantage of this strategy by closing up the field. Martí ultimately finished 14th after coming home 16th in the sprint.

Nonetheless, Martí’s start to 2025 still represents a sizeable improvement on his 2024, when he was outclassed by Campos teammate Isack Hadjar. The Frenchman had also finished 14th in 2023, his debut year in the category. By finishing second in 2024, Hadjar created a template for Martí to follow. 

“The target anyway was to do a season like his [Hadjar’s]”, Martí added. “Obviously the season has started off really well, but Isack’s season really came alive halfway through the season, with a really good job in Spa. He was quite competitive elsewhere, but I would say the mid-season was where he was really strong, so I think it’s a very different situation.” 

“He finished P2, so at the same time, I also want to go one step better and keep pushing in the right way.”

After his feature race win in Imola, rookie Alex Dunne leads the drivers’ standings with 64 points, six points ahead of Luke Browning on 58. Previous leader Verschoor lies third on 55, with Leonardo Fornaroli fourth on 52 and Arvid Lindblad fifth on 45. Martí is four points back in sixth with 41, ahead of Imola sprint winner Jak Crawford on 38 and Victor Martins on 33. Dino Beganovic is ninth with 29 points, well ahead of Oliver Goethe, who rounds out the top 10 with 12 points. 

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency