Hitech GP’s Gabriele Mini will start the Formula 3 Monaco Feature Race from pole position alongside Dino Beganovic after Mini set the fastest time in Group B.
Prema’s Beganovic made a leap from fourth fastest to take the fastest lap of the session in Group A with a time of 1:23.880 but in the final moments of Group B qualifying, Mini stormed to pole after laying down a 1:23.270.
The 30-driver grid was split into two groups for qualifying, as is usual for Formula 3 at the Monte Carlo street circuit. Groups A and B are then aggregated together to form the grid with the group that earns the overall fastest time starting from pole and the other fastest driver starting P2.
Positions then alternate between the groups for the remaining positions.
The first group needed a few laps around the short Monaco circuit to warm the tyres and with 10 minutes remaining the first push laps began. Christian Mansell put in the first fastest time followed by Oliver Goethe and Leonardo Fornaroli, but the drivers still had some work to do to match their times from practice.
Lap times continues to tumble in the following minutes with Beganovic topping the timing screen followed by Luke Browning and Franco Colapinto, who displaced those who were previously in the top three.
Ollie Gray had a moment going wide at Turn 18 but he was able to avoid the wall. Meanwhile, Browning and Colapinto continued to better their fastest times.
Browning set the fastest third sector to set the fastest lap of the session so far with five minutes remaining.
A number of drivers had a close encounter with the walls around the swimming pool chicane but all were able to avoid a collision. Montoya meanwhile was improving on his best time and slotted in second fastest behind Browning.
Goethe brought out double-waved yellows with two minutes to go when he went straight on at Turn 1.
The Ferrari Academy driver made a leap from fourth fastest to take the fastest lap of the session in Group A with a time of 1:23.880.
Browning while setting the fastest first sector, brushed the wall in the final sector and was forced to bail on his fast lap meaning he wasn’t able to challenge Beganovic’s fastest time.
There was late drama for Montoya as he brushed the wall through the final corner, luckily for him, there was no visible damage. However, a lap later he wasn’t so lucky as he collided with the wall, forcing him to abandon the car as the session ended.
The Group B session got underway following the first group with the other fifteen drivers taking to the twists and turns of the Monte Carlo circuit.
As in Group A’s session, the Group B drivers took a few laps to get the tyres up to temperature which allowed the grid to spread out around the track.
The drivers were up to speed with just over ten minutes remaining. Mini occupied the top of the timing screen, followed by Caio Collet before Pepe Marti set the fastest time and Zak O’Sullivan set the third fastest time.
The times quickly began to tumble further as Paul Aron improved to second fastest and Nikola Tsolov jumped O’Sullivan to claim the fourth fastest time with four minutes remaining.
Aron had a close encounter with the barrier and later, Collet had a scrape with the wall in the middle sector.
Gabriel Bortoleto made a huge leap from tenth fastest to third fastest with the fastest first sector.
Collet attempted to improve by going purple in the middle sector but wasn’t able to challenge the top two.
Despite the times tumbling, they weren’t yet able to beat Beganovic’s fastest time set in Group A.
However, in the final moments, Mini set the fastest time of the Group B session of 1:23.270, securing the fastest time of qualifying.
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