Tsolov takes maiden pole in Monaco as Bilinski and Boya shine in F3 qualifying

Written By Trisha Lynnette

Credit: Formula 3 via X

Formula 3 qualifying at Monaco went underway on Friday at 11:05 CEST (9:05 GMT). The streets of sunny Monte Carlo echoed with the sounds of the roaring cars. Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov claimed pole, followed by Roman Bilinski of Rodin Motorsport in second and Mari Boya, also of Campos, in third.

On Thursday at 13:10 CEST (11:10 GMT), Tsolov topped the order in Free Practice, followed by Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport and Charlie Wurz of Trident. That early pace carried into qualifying the next day, where drivers began heading out on track with Group A starting the session. Due to Monaco’s tight layout, the qualifying session was split into two groups (A and B), with the fastest driver across both securing pole.

As the 15 minute session began, the drivers started their out-laps and warmed up their soft compound tyres. Noah Strømsted of Trident began his flying lap at the 11 minute mark closely followed by Tsolov, who immediately went fastest in Sector 1. Gerrard Xie of DAMS Racing topped Sector 2, but Tsolov responded with the fastest final sector to complete a competitive opening lap.

Brad Benavides of AIX Racing finished his flying lap, taking provisional pole while the other drivers attempted another lap to get the fastest time. Martinius Stenshorne of Hitech TGR then took provisional pole before Tsolov finished his flying lap, taking away the pole position. 

With 7 minutes left in the session, Louis Sharp of Rodin Motorsport missed the braking point at turn 1 and went off track. This resulted in a yellow flag for around a minute before the drivers went back to racing. Tsolov still led the grid with a lap time of 1:26.072. Théophile Naël of Van Amersfoort Racing (VAR) and his teammate Ivan Domingues set a pretty good lap for the team, reaching P4 and P9 respectively. Stenshorne took P3 as Noel Léon of PREMA Racing took provisional pole with the fastest lap. 

Tsolov managed to get a faster lap and jumped back to provisional pole, pushing Léon down to P2. Benavides initially secured P3 with a strong lap at the four-minute mark. However, as the session progressed and faster times came in, he gradually slipped down the order. Sharp’s incident of rejoining unsafely at turn 1 was noted by stewards. 

With just a tenth of a second separating him from the top, Léon pushed for a quicker lap. At the same time, Tsolov began going faster in every sector, ultimately he set a 1:25.647 lap to take provisional pole. But the celebration was short-lived as Léon responded immediately with a 1:25.502 lap to reclaim the top spot. Moments later, Mari Boya of Campos Racing crossed the line and went even faster, snatching the provisional pole.

Tsolov went on a flying lap once again, pushing as he went fastest in the first sector. He got fastest in sector 2 before finishing with a purple sector 3, taking provisional pole with a 1:24.882 lap. 

Sharp secure P6, after a strong final flying lap. Stenshorne tried to push for his final flying lap but got caught behind Bruno Del Pino of MP Motorsport. Boya managed to take P2 as the chequered flag was waved and the session for Group A came to an end.

Tsolov took provisional pole, followed by his teammate Boya at P2 and Léon at P3 in Group A. 

Credit: Formula 3 via X

Group B drivers began their qualifying at 11:29 CEST (9:29 GMT) with 15 minutes on the clock. The drivers set out on track to warm their tyres before beginning their flying lap. Tramnitz and Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport, as well as Joshua Dufek of Hitech TGR started their flying lap. 

Tramnitz took provisional pole, Nicola Marinangeli of AIX Racing and Laurens Van Hoepen of ART Grand Prix at P2 and P3. Tramnitz regained provisional pole shortly after losing it to teammate Santiago Ramos.

Nicola Lacorte of DAMS Racing faced a bit of trouble at the Mirabeau, driving off the track and requiring assistance with his car. The yellow flag was waved as most drivers abandoned their flying lap. The green flag was waved and they were back racing, each driver trying to get the best lap timing for the day. However this did not last for long.

Another yellow flag was waved as Ugo Ugochukwu of PREMA Racing ran wide at the exit of turn 1, fortunately the driver got back on track resuming the fast paced session. Rafael Câmara of Trident took provisional pole with 1:25.635 followed by Callum Voisin of Rodin Motorsport and Tramnitz at P2 and P3, just 2 tenths of a second away from the championship leader - Câmara. 

Giusti went out on his second flying lap and managed to get a better position - P4. Câmara also did another flying lap but was soon demoted by Roman Bilinski of Rodin Motorsport, and then Voisin who took provisional pole for the moment. Van Hoepen reported having brushed against the wall a bit at turn 15. Lacorte received a black flag for having assistance with his car.

Credit: Formula 3 via X

With just 3 minutes left, the session was halted with a red flag as Brando Badoer of PREMA Racing crashed into the barrier. This resulted in his lap time being deleted and also meant he had to retire from the session. With the cars going back to the pits, how did Tsolov feel about the session coming to a stop?

“With the red flag, of course I was pretty happy and then I was just sitting and waiting,” said the Bulgarian driver, who was watching the Group B qualifying after finishing his dominant session.

The racers returned back to the pit as the green flag was waved. They began their out lap as they tried to warm their tyres back to the ideal condition. Van Hoepen started his flying lap, trying to challenge the time set by Voisin prior to the red flag. He had a good amount of pace but faced a bit of difficulty in sector 2 with his car, thereby returning to the pits. 

The end of the session was nearing, Voisin led the grid followed by his teammate Bilinski. Bilinski managed to get a faster lap in the last few seconds of the session, taking provisional pole in Group B. 

Bilinski took P1 in Group B as the chequered flag was waved, the session coming to an end. Tramnitz began his final flying lap in the last few seconds, to try and beat both Bilinski and Tsolov but to no avail. 

Multiple drivers were noted for various infringements by the end of the race. Championship leader Câmara took P4 in the grid for the feature race, and was noted for a red flag infringement pushing him to P8. Lacorte was noted for a black flag infringement and was disqualified. Dufek, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak of Campos Racing, Badoer, Van Hoepen, Câmara, and James Wharton of ART Grand Prix were noted for a yellow flag infringement during the session.

Nikola Tsolov clinched pole position while Bilinski qualified P2 for the feature race. The celebration for Campos didn’t end there as Boya took P3 for the feature race. Alessandro Giusti, who qualified P12, will be at pole for the sprint race as the series follows the reverse grid of the top 12 qualifiers.

Credit: Formula 3 via X

The Monegasque circuit is known for it's tight and narrow nature, so how exactly did the top 3 mentally prepare themselves for the day?

"It's a tricky one, Monaco. Especially since you don't get many laps in F3 in practice or as many as I am used to coming from FRECA. So it's one of both, you have to kind of be on the limit but not hitting the wall of course," said Bilinski in a press conference attended by DIVEBOMB. "If the car was in the wall it was in the wall," he continued.

"For me, it was quite crucial to do well here. Obviously quali is the most important thing and after FP I had the confidence that I was quick. So I just tried not to overthink it and go into it and enjoy. I think this has been the main key for me that I go with the mindset to enjoy. It's just me and the track and nothing else," said Tsolov, having rich history here at the track.

Boya said: "I think for me the most important thing is to build up the confidence slowly. Especially don't touch to early, the walls and leave some margin to step by step build up and finish especially the last push. You have to deliver everything because then in the race you literally can't overtake. And I think it is the most crucial thing about the speed traps and especially here in Monaco."

This marks Tsolov’s maiden pole position in the series, along with his first-ever Aramco Pole Position Award. Monaco already holds special significance for Tsolov, as it was the scene of his first sprint race victory last year. Now, with pole secured, this iconic circuit could very well be the place where he claims his first feature race win too.

We go racing on Saturday, with the Sprint Race at 10:45 CEST (8:45 GMT) and again on Sunday with the Feature Race at 08:00 CEST (06:00 GMT).

Make sure to catch the sprint live and if you can’t, don’t worry! Head back over to DIVEBOMB for all the action you might’ve missed.