F3 | Monaco GP | Sprint Race | Stenshorne took the chequered flag to win - Motorsport

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Today hosts the F3 Sprint at the Monaco GP. As we approach the grid for the first Formula 3 race of the weekend, we will have a reverse grid. This reverse grid was set by Friday’s qualifying sessions.

After Friday’s Qualifying, it was MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti who secured reverse grid pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race in Monaco. Lining up alongside him on the front row was ART’s Martinius Stenshorne. Post-session developments saw championship leader Rafael Câmara handed a three-place grid penalty for failing to respect the minimum delta time under Red Flag conditions, dropping him to eighth for the Sprint.

The green flag was waved, and five lights were out!

As the formation lap got underway, anticipation built ahead of the first race of the weekend. The grid reformed, engines roared—and then it was lights out. Giusti made a poor start and slipped to fourth, allowing Stenshorne to take the lead ahead of ART teammates Tuukka Taponen and Laurens van Hoepen.

Drama unfolded immediately. James Hedley and Ivan Domingues collided before Portier, bringing out the Safety Car as both retired on the spot. In a separate incident, Noel León was also forced to retire after a close encounter with Câmara, while Nicola Lacorte came to a halt at the tunnel’s entrance. Feature Race polesitter Nikola Tsolov plummeted from 12th to 25th on a chaotic opening lap.

Safety car still out

By Lap 4, marshals were still clearing the stricken cars under Safety Car conditions. The operation wrapped up by Lap 6, and racing resumed on Lap 7. Stenshorne led the restart with Taponen close behind. There was minor contact between Callum Voisin and Mari Boya in their battle for eighth on Lap 10, but both continued.

Stenshorne briefly pulled out of DRS range, only for Taponen to reel him back in by Lap 13. On Lap 14, Noah Strømsted reported a puncture after making contact with Brad Benavides during a move on Joshua Dufek. The incident damaged the TRIDENT’s front wing and dropped the Dane to 24th.

An overtake in Monaco

There was rare overtaking action in Monaco when Gerrard Xie pulled off an impressive move on Nicola Marinangeli into Turn 1 on Lap 17. Stenshorne responded to the pressure by pulling clear of Taponen once again, extending his lead to 1.2 seconds by Lap 18. The closest battle among the leaders was between Van Hoepen and Giusti for third.

Further down the order, Benavides overtook Ugo Ugochukwu for 12th on Lap 21, while Joseph Sharp moved ahead of teammate Voisin to become the leading Rodin in ninth. As the final lap approached, Stenshorne maintained his advantage.

Martinius Stenshorne took the chequered flag to win the Sprint Race for Hitech TGR, with Taponen and Van Hoepen completing a double podium for ART Grand Prix. Giusti and Tim Tramnitz finished fourth and fifth for MP Motorsport. TRIDENT’s Charlie Wurz and Câmara claimed sixth and seventh, while Boya held off Sharp and Voisin to round out the top ten and the points-paying positions.