Win-less Fornaroli clinches F3 title with last-lap pass in epic Monza finale

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.

The leader managed to break out of DRS range of Mansell behind while Dunne fell away from Mansell. Fornaroli took third place from Dunne on lap 15 before Mini passed the McLaren junior for fourth on the next lap. Fornaroli reeled in Mansell and passed him to move up into second place, before Mini also slipped by the ART driver to take the final podium position.

With three laps remaining, the championship was now down to a straight fight between the two title contenders. Mini got a run on Fornaroli down the pit straight with two laps remaining to pass his rival around the outside of Rettifilo and, with it, took the championship lead. Fornaroli’s situation became even more dire when Mansell passed him into the Roggia chicane.

Entering the final lap of the race and the season, Mini was on course to snatch the title. But all three drivers in the pack behind Meguetounif were struggling for grip. Approaching the final corner, Fornaroli made a desperate lunge to the inside of Mansell and managed to make the corner. Mansell gave Fornaroli enough space to allow the Trident driver through, running wide as he did, meaning that Fornaroli had taken the points he needed to become champion at the final corner.

Meguetounif took the chequered flag to win the race with Mini just under four seconds behind. Fornaroli crossed the line six tenths later to secure the title by just two points.

Mansell finished fourth with Dunne taking fifth ahead of fellow McLaren junior Martinius Stenshorne. Sprint race winner Tim Tramnitz took seventh with Noel Leon, Laurens van Hopen and Dino Beganovic completing the top ten.

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Formula 3 Italy race two results

Position	Car	Driver	Team
1	5	Sami Meguetounif	Trident
2	2	Gabriele Minì	Prema
3	4	Leonardo Fornaroli	Trident
4	23	Christian Mansell	ART
5	9	Alex Dunne	MP
6	15	Martinius Stenshorne	Hitech
7	7	Tim Tramnitz	MP
8	20	Noel Leon	Van Amersfoort
9	24	Laurens Van Hoepen	ART
10	1	Dino Beganovic	Prema
11	28	Josh Dufek	PHM
12	26	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	PHM
13	14	Luke Browning	Hitech
14	8	Kacper Sztuka	MP
15	27	Nikita Bedrin	PHM
16	17	Charlie Wurz	Jenzer
17	22	Tom Smith	Van Amersfoort
18	3	Arvid Lindblad	Prema
19	25	Nicola Tsolov	ART
20	6	Santiago Ramos	Trident
21	31	Joseph Loake	Rodin
22	11	Sebastian Montoya	Campos
DNF	29	Callum Voisin	Rodin
DNF	10	Noah Stromsted	Campos
DNF	18	Max Esterson	Jenzer
DNF	12	Mari Boya	Campos
DNF	30	Piotr Wisnicki	Rodin
DNF	16	Cian Shields	Hitech
DNF	21	Sophia Floersch	Van Amersfoort
DNF	19	Matias Zagazeta	Jenzer

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