In Italy, the home of Ferrari, the qualifying session of the last round of Formula 3 was tinged with red. And it wasn't because any Ferrari Academy driver shone with an epic pole position, quite the opposite. It was because the qualifying session was interrupted three times with red flags due to different accidents! The last one, when there were still ten out of the 30 minutes of qualifying time remaining, caused the final suspension and everyone went home. Thus, Oliver Goethe, the author of the final stoppage, took the pole position, Franco Colapinto was left in suspense, and Gabriel Bortoleto was crowned champion. All in all, a lot happened, as always.
The first red flag was unusual and predictable. The tight pack of Formula 3 cars was looking for the best position on the track to take advantage of the slipstream from the car in front, and they were all driving slowly, close together, and... they crashed! Not only that, two teammates collided! The protagonists were Oliver Gray and Ido Cohen. And everyone went back to the pits.
When the green flag returned, Josh Dufek spun off, his car ended up in the gravel and... Red flag. Everyone back to the pits. The green flag came out again and... Goethe flew, set the best partial time, and ended up against the barriers at Lesmo. Yes, red flag again.
There were ten minutes left until the end. Everyone was waiting in the pits. Almost no driver had managed to complete that flying lap they were looking for, which would give them their actual qualifying time. But the timetable started to tighten, the times got shorter, and, it's clear, Formula 3 is the least priority. The Formula 2 qualifying session was coming up, and, most importantly, the second Formula 1 practice session. What happened? It didn't resume. End of the session, with ten minutes remaining.
And the pit lane went wild. Photographers and cameramen crowded around Bortoleto, because if Paul Aron didn't get pole position, he would be crowned champion. And the Estonian driver ended up third. Thus, the Brazilian from the Trident team (teammate of Goethe, who caused the final red flag), whose career is managed by Fernando Alonso's company, clinched the title in his rookie season in Formula 3.
The atypical qualifying session made things difficult for Colapinto. The Argentine driver managed to complete that ideal lap and ended up 15th, from where he will have to start the two races that will take place on Star+. The Williams development program member is fighting for the runner-up position and is currently fifth in the championship, six points behind Aron, who is in second place. But he will have to fight to reach the second position in the championship because in both the sprint race and the feature race, he will start behind Aron, Mini, and O'Sullivan. The good thing for Colapinto is that the Monza circuit offers many overtaking opportunities, but the downside is that he will start from the eighth row, a very tricky zone for the arrival at the first corner of the Italian Temple of Speed.
On the other hand, Colombian driver Sebastián Montoya, who is part of the Red Bull program, also had a difficult time and ended up 13th.
ACTIVITY
Saturday
Sprint race
4.25 ARG / URU
3.25 CHI
2.25 COL / ECU / PER
1.25 MEX
Sunday
Feature Race
3.15 ARG / URU
2.15 CHI
1.15 COL / ECU / PER
0.15 MEX