Report – F3 Round 10 – Monza

Luke Browning concluded a stellar FIA Formula 3 campaign by clinching third place in the Drivers’ Standings this weekend. He waged an impressive crusade from ‘lights out’ in Sakhir to the chequered flag in Monza, and both he and the whole Hitech team can be justifiably proud of this achievement in such an exceptional and close-fought season that went right down to the wire at the Temple of Speed.

Heading into Sunday’s Feature Race – the season finale – four drivers were in with a mathematical chance of securing the title. Luke lay third in the standings, after a sensational performance in Saturday’s Sprint saw him improve from 17^th on the Grid to seventh at the flag, with the margin to the leader reduced from six to five points.

Starting the 22-lap Feature from 13^th place presented a tough, but not insurmountable challenge, one that Luke approached with customary grit and verve. He was up to 11^th at the end of the opening lap but dropped to 12^th after Loake was able to get a tow on Lap 3 to move ahead at Turn 1.

Into Ascari, Luke was side-by-side with Tsolov but spun on corner entry. He was able to continue but had to pit for a new front wing and dropped right down the order to 26^th position.

In one of the most spellbinding races Formula 3 has witnessed in its six-year history, the championship honours continued to hang in the balance until the final lap. Luke, giving Saturday Sprint vibes, had battled his way back to P13, ready for anything that might happen in the feverish battle at the front. Ultimately, Fornaroli clinched the title, with Mini the Vice-Champion, and Luke securing P3 on 128 points.

Martinius Stenshorne went into the finale determined to end the season on a high note and “just have as much fun as possible”. He did exactly that and starting from 19^th on the Grid he stormed to P6 at the flag to earn a further nine championship points. He ends the season 18^th in the Standings to round out a strong campaign that earned him victory in Melbourne, second on the podium in Spielberg and three more points finishes in Barcelona and Monza.

Cian Shields had been equally determined to round out the season with a strong performance on Sunday. He started the Feature Race in P20 but was one of three drivers to pick up damage in a second Lap 3 incident.

Following the application of post-race penalties, Martinius was promoted to P5 in the Feature Race classification, while Luke Browning dropped to P20 as a result of the incident with Loake.

An epic Formula 3 fight has come to an end but post-season testing is up next, starting with Jerez on 8-9 October then Barcelona on 15-16 October. At the Circuit de Catalunya, the current generation F3 cars will be decommissioned, paving the way for the new-for-2025 F3 car that was revealed in Monza at the weekend.

Sprint Race Result – Saturday

Luke Browning – 6^th (5 points)

Martinius Stenshorne – 10^th (1 point)

Cian Shields – 20^th

Feature Race Result – Sunday

Martinius Stenshorne – 5^th (10 points)

Luke Browning – 13th

Cian Shields – DNF