Stenshorne takes F3 Sprint victory in Monaco amid crashes and safety car

Written By Trisha Lynnette

Credit: Formula 3 via X

The Formula 3 Sprint Race in Monaco got underway on Saturday at 10:45 CEST (8:45 GMT), with Martinius Stenshorne of Hitech TGR claiming his first victory of the 2025 season. He was followed by Tuukka Taponen in second and his ART Grand Prix teammate Laurens Van Hoepen securing the final podium spot in third.

It was a sunny day in Monte Carlo, the drivers out on track ready for the Sprint Race. Drivers began their formation lap, weaving to warm their tyres on Monaco's low-degradation circuit.

Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport led the grid as he took pole position for the Sprint Race. Behind him stood Stenshorne and Van Hoepen. During the formation lap Ivan Domingues of Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) stopped on track due to his low speed. Mari Boya of Campos Racing, who will start third in the feature, was noted for a start procedure infringement. 

The lights went off, Stenshorne went immediately into the lead, Giusti fell to P4 having a bad start at the front. Noel Léon of PREMA Racing made contact with the wall, prompting a yellow flag.. The Safety Car was deployed as James Hedley of AIX Racing and Domingues collided with each other, coming to a halt on the track. 

Léon also retired due to heavy collision damage. The incident underscored the narrow nature of the circuit, as he ran side by side with Callum Voisin of Rodin Motorsport with little room to maneuver.

Nicola Lacorte of DAMS Racing also came to a halt near the tunnel, Santiago Ramos of VAR having collided with the driver. By Lap 2, five drivers retired from the race - Léon, Domingues, Hedley, Ramos and Lacorte. Lap 4 and the safety car was still on track, drivers weaving once again to warm their tyres. 

Nikola Tsolov of Campos Racing, who took pole position for the feature race was shown in the pits as he faced issues with the car. The safety car came to an end by Lap 8, the drivers ready to race with great speed. An incident regarding Bruno Del Pino of MP Motorsport and Matías Zagazeta of DAMS Racing were noted by the stewards and under investigation for having left the track and gaining an advantage at turn 1. Tsolov returned to the track at P25, last on the grid. 

Racing resumed under green flag conditions, as drivers pushed to overtake whenever possible. Taponen stood behind Stenshorne with a gap of five tenths of a second. DRS was enabled by Lap 10, down the main straight. Contact between Voisin and Boya was seen and fortunately caused very minimal damage. 

Rafael Câmara of Trident, the championship leader, was at P7 and began to put pressure on his teammate ahead of him, Charlie Wurz. Bilinski took the fastest lap, Voisin tried to overtake Boya - having minimal contact once again. Stenshorne took the fastest lap, just before the yellow flag was out. 

Credit: Formula 3 via X

Noah Strømsted of Trident reported a puncture at turn 1 due to his collision with Brad Benavides of AIX Racing. Green flag was waved as drivers began racing. Câmara in Lap 15 took the fastest lap. In the meantime, Trident driver Strømsted went into the pits - falling down to P24 and eventually had to retire. 

Bilinski faced a lot of pressure from Ugo Ugochukwu of PREMA Racing and Benavides who drove behind him. The Strømsted and Benavides incident was noted by the stewards. Ten second penalty was given to Del Pino for cutting the first corner in the first lap. Del Pino was noted once again by the stewards for moving before the start signal. 

17 laps in, the grid was set as drivers began to avoid too many overtakes in a lap. Wurz had broken well away from his teammate, increasing the gap between the two drivers. Giusti continued to look for a point where he could overtake Van Hoepen but to no avail. Stewards announced that there would be no further investigation for Boya’s starting infringement and for the Benavides and Strømsted incident as well.

Ugochukwu lost his position to Benavides who maneuvered strategically and took P12. 

The penultimate lap began as drivers tried for any final overtakes and began to push. Voisin repeatedly tried to pass Boya, leading to minor contact on multiple occasions.

Credit: Formula 3

Final lap approached as Stenshorne led the grid. He crossed the chequered flag, winning the Sprint Race at the legendary Monegasque track. Hitech previously won here in 2023 with F3 graduate Gabriele Minì, and now they win again at the same track. Taponen took P2 alongside his teammate Van Hoepen, who took pole in Monaco last year, at P3. A good result for ART Grand Prix as they took a 2-3 podium. 

That concludes a dramatic Sprint Race in Monaco, with Stenshorne taking the top step. Attention now shifts to Sunday’s Feature Race, where Tsolov will lead the grid at 08:00 CEST (06:00 GMT), followed closely by Bilinski and Boya.

Make sure to catch this legendary Feature Race live at Monaco, and if you can’t head back to DIVEBOMB for all the action you might have missed.

Full Sprint Race Classification

P1	Martinius Stenshorne	Hitech TGR
P2	Tuukka Taponen	ART Grand Prix
P3	Laurens Van Hoepen	ART Grand Prix
P4	Alessandro Giusti	MP Motorsport
P5	Tim Tramnitz	MP Motorsport
P6	Charlie Wurz	TRIDENT
P7	Rafael Câmara	TRIDENT
P8	Mari Boya	Campos Racing
P9	Louis Sharp	Rodin Motorsport
P10	Callum Voisin	Rodin Motorsport
P11	Roman Bilinski	Rodin Motorsport
P12	Brad Benavides	AIX Racing
P13	Ugo Ugochukwu	PREMA Racing
P14	Joshua Dufek	Hitech TGR
P15	Christian Ho	DAMS Racing
P16	Théophile Naël	Van Amersfoort Racing
P17	Matías Zagazeta	DAMS Racing
P18	Tasanpol Inthraphuvasak	Campos Racing
P19	Gerrard Xie	Hitech TGR
P20	Nicola Marinangeli	AIX Racing
P21	Brando Badoer	PREMA Racing
P22	James Wharton	ART Grand Prix
P23	Bruno Del Pino	MP Motorsport
P24	Nikola Tsolov	Campos Racing
DNF	Nicola Lacorte	DAMS Racing
DNF	Ivan Domingues	Van Amersfoort Racing
DNF	Santiago Ramos	Van Amersfoort Racing
DNF	Noel Léon	PREMA Racing
DNF	James Hedley	AIX Racing
DNF	Noah Strømsted	TRIDENT