Leonardo Fornaroli clinched the 2024 Formula 3 championship with a last corner pass in a frantic and thrilling final race of the season at Monza.
Knowing he would lose the championship to second-placed Gabriele Mini if he didn’t finish immediately behind his rival, Fornaroli launched down the inside of Christian Mansell at the final corner. His rival ran wide and Fornaroli claimed the final podium spot to clinch the crown.
In doing so, Fornaroli achieves the extremely rare feat of winning a major championship title despite not winning a single race in the season.
Trident driver Sami Meguetounif won the race by almost four seconds from Mini to end his season on a high.
Pre-race championship leader Fornaroli had secured pole position for the feature race in qualifying ahead of Alex Dunne with rival Mini third. Fornaroli successfully kept the lead at the start, but Dunne slipstreamed him down the back straight to pass him into the final corner to lead the opening lap.
Fornaroli’s Trident team mate Sami Meguetounif passed Mini to take third on the second lap. When DRS was activated, Fornaroli challenged Dunne to retake the lead but was repelled into the Rettifilo.
Luke Browning’s championship chances effectively ended on the third lap of the race when he spun into the Ascari chicane when attempting to pass Nikola Tsolov. With several cars taking to the grass and gravel to avoid the Williams junior, there was a secondary accident with several cars at the exit of Ascari, triggering an immediate Safety Car. Piotr Wisnicki, Cian Shields, Sophia Floersch and Matias Zagazeta all retired as a result, while Browning recovered to the pits and resumed in last place.
The race restarted on lap seven with Dunne coming under pressure from Fornaroli, but the McLaren junior was able to hold him off. Behind, Christian Mansell passed Mini for fourth place.
Fornaroli then made a mistake at the Ascari chicane, dropping to fifth behind Mini. The Alpine junior then made a mistake of his own through the Lesmos, opening the door for Fornaroli to slipstream past him for fourth into Ascari to move back into championship winning position.
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Meguetounif used DRS to take the lead from Dunne at the start of lap 10, with the top three now covered by less than a second. A bold move around the outside of the Roggia chicane allowed Mansell to take second place from Dunne, giving Meguetounif a small margin out front as a result.
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