F3: ourchaire pips Zendeli to pole by 0.4s at Monza

Théo Pourchaire (above) claimed his first ever FIA Formula 3 pole position in a chaotic Qualifying session at Monza. The ART Grand Prix driver made the most of the tow to finish four tenths faster than Trident’s Lirim Zendeli. Pourchaire’s ART teammate Alex Smolyar finished in third, a further 0.036s back.

Track temperatures had risen from the low-20s to the mid-40s between Free Practice and Qualifying and the field seemed to be reveling in the heat. Jake Hughes was the first man to complete a flying lap, setting the benchmark at 1:38.243.

PREMA duo Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant had spent the opening 10 minutes of the session towards the bottom of the order, but lunged to third and fourth with their first proper laps of the afternoon.

David Beckmann briefly nicked P1 from Hughes, but the Briton found more time around the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza to reclaim top spot. Beckmann cooled down and had another go, finding just over a hundredth of a second more to stake an even stronger claim for provisional pole. Frederik Vesti, Matteo Nannini and Pourchaire were also able to improve and lunged ahead of Hughes.

Théo Pourchaire (Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images)

The cars dived back into the pits for fresh boots, with no one choosing to run in the gap. They returned shortly after, but only briefly, as a red flag brought the session to a halt. Hitech had been in such a rush to get Liam Lawson back out with a good track position that they left the cooling fan on his car.

The session quickly went green again and the cars funneled back out onto the tarmac. Provisional pole man Beckmann radioed to complain that he had been sent out first, without an opportunity to take a tow. Minutes later, he had lost P1 as Pourchaire nailed the final sector to steal the position.

Beckmann’s teammate Zendeli meanwhile, had benefited from a tow and momentarily leapt to first, but Pourchaire found time in the middle sector to regain top stop. Smolyar and Lawson were able to improve, but could only managed third and fourth.

Teams’ Champions in waiting, PREMA Racing, were off the pace. Vesti was the fastest of the three, but could only manage P6, with Sargeant down in 10th and Piastri in P12.

Pourchaire retained P1 at the checkered flag, ahead of Zendeli, Smolyar, Lawson and Beckmann. Vesti was sixth, ahead of Nannini, Hughes, Calan Williams and Sargeant.

The Frenchman will be in search of his third F3 victory tomorrow, starting from pole when Race 1 gets underway at 10.25am (local time).

F3 Monza Qualifying Results

Pos No. Driver Team LAPS TIME GAP INT.
1 7 T. Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 12 1:37.301
2 10 L. Zendeli Trident 13 1:37.752 0.451 0.451
3 8 A. Smolyar ART Grand Prix 13 1:37.788 0.487 0.036
4 5 L. Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 13 1:37.788 0.487 0.000
5 11 D. Beckmann Trident 10 1:37.809 0.508 0.021
6 2 F. Vesti PREMA Racing 13 1:38.015 0.714 0.206
7 22 M. Nannini Jenzer Motorsport 13 1:38.036 0.735 0.021
8 15 J. Hughes HWA RACELAB 13 1:38.051 0.750 0.015
9 20 C. Williams Jenzer Motorsport 13 1:38.064 0.763 0.013
10 3 L. Sargeant PREMA Racing 13 1:38.095 0.794 0.031
11 9 S. Fernánde zART Grand Prix 12 1:38.142 0.841 0.047
12 1 O. Piastri PREMA Racing 13 1:38.198 0.897 0.056
13 24 I. Fraga Charouz Racing System 13 1:38.215 0.914 0.017
14 29 A. Peroni Campos Racing 13 1:38.237 0.936 0.022
15 12 O. Caldwell Trident 13 1:38.343 1.042 0.106
16 23 R. Stanek Charouz Racing System 13 1:38.531 1.230 0.188
17 17 R. Verschoor MP Motorsport 13 1:38.583 1.282 0.052
18 14 E. Fittipaldi HWA RACELAB 13 1:38.684 1.383 0.101
19 16 J. Doohan HWA RACELAB 13 1:38.690 1.389 0.006
20 25 M. Belov Charouz Racing System 13 1:38.723 1.422 0.033
21 18 B. Viscaal MP Motorsport 13 1:38.800 1.499 0.077
22 6 D. Hauger Hitech Grand Prix 13 1:38.842 1.541 0.042
23 21 F. Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport 13 1:38.865 1.564 0.023
24 26 C. Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing 11 1:38.897 1.596 0.032
25 31 S. Floersch Campos Racing 13 1:39.022 1.721 0.125
26 28 C. Das Carlin Buzz Racing 11 1:39.077 1.776 0.055
27 4 P. Chovet Hitech Grand Prix 14 1:39.173 1.872 0.096
28 30 A. Deledda Campos Racing 13 1:39.448 2.147 0.275
29 19 L. Dunner MP Motorsport 13 1:39.479 2.178 0.031
30 27 D. Schumacher Carlin Buzz Racing 11 1:39.494 2.193 0.015
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