Marti makes it look easy with dominant sprint win in Monaco

Josep Maria Marti converted reverse grid pole position into sprint race victory in the first FIA Formula 3 race of the weekend in Monaco.

The Campos driver led all 23 laps of the race, pulling away from fellow front row starter Leonardo Fornaroli to win by over eight seconds and secure his second victory of the season. Gregoire Saucy completed the podium in third.

Picture perfect conditions awaited the 30 drivers for the first Formula 3 race around the famous Monte Carlo street circuit since Lewis Hamilton’s double triumph in 2005. When the lights went out, pole-winner Marti duly held onto the lead on the run to Sainte Devote with Leonardo Fornaroli retaining second place. Gregoire Saucy jumped Taylor Barnard to take third place with Franco Colapinto remaining in fifth.

Back in the pack, Jonny Edgar was bumped into the Sainte Devote barrier. With his MP Motorsport car in the wall, the Safety Car was deployed while Yeany, Hugh Barter, Roberto Faria and Mari Boya all made their way into the pits after suffering damage over the opening lap – the latter two joining Edgar in retirement.

The race resumed at the start of lap six, with Marti leading away from Fornaroli and Saucy. Colapinto dived down the inside of Barnard at the hairpin, picking up fourth position in the process.

Fornaroli remained within a second of the race leader until eventually falling out of DRS range just after half distance on lap 13. By lap 18, Marti’s lead had inflated to over three seconds as Fornaroli struggled to keep up with the Campos driver’s pace out front. Third-placed Saucy remained within DRS range of Fornaroli and began putting the Trident driver under pressure, but could not get close enough to attempt a pass.

But out front, Marti was now well clear. He ticked off the remaining laps and crossed the line at the end of the 23rd and final lap to take the chequered flag and secure the ten points. Fornaroli successfully held his nerve to hold onto second place with Saucy crossing the line to take the final podium slot in third, with Colapinto less than a second behind in fourth.

Barnard finished fifth ahead of Gabriel Bortoleto, who retains his championship lead. Sebastian Montoya finished seventh ahead of Luke Browning, with Caio Collet and Paul Aron completing the top ten.

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Formula 3 Monaco race one results

Position	Car	Driver	Team
1	23	Josep Maria Martí	Campos
2	4	Leonardo Fornaroli	Trident
3	8	Gregoire Saucy	ART
4	10	Franco Colapinto	MP
5	27	Taylor Barnard	Jenzer
6	5	Gabriel Bortoleto	Trident
7	14	Sebastian Montoya	Hitech
8	16	Luke Browning	Hitech
9	17	Caio Collet	Van Amersfoort
10	1	Paul Aron	Prema
11	15	Gabriele Minì	Hitech
12	2	Dino Beganovic	Prema
13	3	Zak O’Sullivan	Prema
14	9	Nikola Tsolov	ART
15	26	Nikita Bedrin	Jenzer
16	18	Caio Collet	MP
17	6	Oliver Goethe	Trident
18	31	Piotr Wiśnicki	PHM Racing by Charouz
19	22	Ido Cohen	Rodin Carlin
20	24	Christian Mansell	Campos
21	19	Tom Smith	Van Amersfoort
22	20	Oliver Gray	Rodin Carlin
23	29	Sophia Floersch	PHM Racing by Charouz
24	7	Kaylen Frederick	ART
25	25	Hugh Barter	Campos
26	28	Alejandro García	Jenzer
27	21	Hunter Yeany	Rodin Carlin
28	30	Roberto Faria	PHM Racing by Charouz
29	11	Mari Boya	MP
30	12	Jonny Edgar	MP

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