The 2024 Sakhir FIA Formula 3 round was a motor racing event held between 29 February and 2 March 2024 at the Bahrain International Circuit in Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the first race of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship and was being held in support of the 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Background Team changes New Zealand automotive manufacturer Rodin Cars took over Carlin and renamed the team Rodin Motorsport, after previously becoming majority shareholder in 2023.
Driver changes The previous season's top five drivers - reigning champion Gabriel Bortoleto, runner-up Zak O'Sullivan, Paul Aron, Franco Colapinto, and Pepe Martí - all left the series and graduated to the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Italian F4 Championship champion and Kacper Sztuka and third-placed Arvid Lindblad debuted in the series with MP Motorsport and Prema Racing, respectively, both as Red Bull Junior Team members, and Formula Regional European Championship runner-up Martinius Stenshorne joined Hitech Pulse-Eight. Thai Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, Peruvian Matías Zagazeta, and Alex Dunne of Ireland became the first drivers to represent their respective nations in series history.
Classification Summary Dino Beganovic set the fastest qualifying time for the opening round at Bahrain International Circuit to claim feature race pole position, followed by Luke Browning and Gabriele Minì. Laurens van Hoepen qualified twelfth and thus started the reverse-grid sprint race from first place. His ART Grand Prix teammate Nikola Tsolov took the lead at the first corner, and the two drivers continued competing for first position for much of the race. Arvid Lindblad, who started fourth, took advantage of the battle in front and overtook both drivers to claim the lead, and later the race win, on his FIA Formula 3 debut. He was joined on the podium by Van Hoepen, also on his debut race, and Leonardo Fornaroli, who had passed Tsolov in the closing laps.
Pole-sitter Beganovic encountered an issue off the start line in the feature race and was overtaken by the entire field before the first corner. The lead therefore passed to Browning, with Sami Meguetounif and Tim Tramnitz improving to the podium positions. Eighth-place starter Christian Mansell made overtakes at the start and had claimed second place by lap five. Mansell ran close behind Browning for most of the race but was unable to pass, and Browning took his first FIA Formula 3 victory, with Tramnitz completing the podium on his debut weekend. At the conclusion of the round, Browning led the Drivers' Championship by four points over Tramnitz.
Qualifying Qualifying was held on 29 February 2024, at 16:00 local time (UTC+3). Driver Entrant Time/Gap 11 Dino BeganovicPrema Racing1:46.431121214 Luke BrowningHitech Pulse-Eight +0.16711232 Gabriele MinìPrema Racing +0.17010345 Sami MeguetounifTrident +0.3649456 Santiago RamosTrident +0.3678564 Leonardo FornaroliTrident +0.3747677 Tim TramnitzMP Motorsport +0.39767823 Christian MansellART Grand Prix +0.4125893 Arvid LindbladPrema Racing +0.442491018 Max EstersonJenzer Motorsport +0.5033101125 Nikola TsolovART Grand Prix +0.5102111224 Laurens van HoepenART Grand Prix +0.5311121320 Noel LeónVan Amersfoort Racing +0.6001313149 Alex DunneMP Motorsport +0.70214141512 Mari BoyaCampos Racing +0.73915151617 Charlie WurzJenzer Motorsport +0.76016161710 Oliver GoetheCampos Racing +0.76717171827 Nikita BedrinPHM AIX Racing +0.77818181929 Callum VoisinRodin Motorsport +0.78519192019 Matías ZagazetaJenzer Motorsport +0.78620252131 Joseph LoakeRodin Motorsport +0.78821202215 Martinius StenshorneHitech Pulse-Eight +1.04022212326 Tasanapol InthraphuvasakPHM AIX Racing +1.3042322248 Kacper SztukaMP Motorsport +1.31424232521 Sophia FlörschVan Amersfoort Racing +1.38125242628 Joshua DufekPHM AIX Racing +1.44726262722 Tommy SmithVan Amersfoort Racing +1.49827272830 Piotr WiśnickiRodin Motorsport +1.54028282911 Sebastián MontoyaCampos Racing +1.92729293016 Cian ShieldsHitech Pulse-Eight +2.1343030107% time: 1:53.881 (+7.450)Source:
Notes: – Matías Zagazeta received a five-place grid penalty for the Feature Race for causing a collision with Tommy Smith in the Sprint Race.
Sprint race The sprint race was held on 1 March 2024, at 13:15 local time (UTC+3).
DriverTeamLapsTime/Gap13 Arvid LindbladPrema Racing19 35:35.482410224 Laurens van HoepenART Grand Prix19 +5.47819 (1)34 Leonardo FornaroliTrident19 +5.51478425 Nikola TsolovART Grand Prix19 +6.7172757 Tim TramnitzMP Motorsport19 +6.92766618 Max EstersonJenzer Motorsport19 +8.4093572 Gabriele MinìPrema Racing19 +8.413104812 Mari BoyaCampos Racing19 +9.183153910 Oliver GoetheCampos Racing19 +9.938172105 Sami MeguetounifTrident19 +11.245911115 Martinius StenshorneHitech Pulse-Eight19 +12.58522129 Alex DunneMP Motorsport19 +13.082141327 Nikita BedrinPHM AIX Racing19 +14.987181423 Christian MansellART Grand Prix19 +19.28251514 Luke BrowningHitech Pulse-Eight19 +19.513111626 Tasanapol InthraphuvasakPHM AIX Racing19 +19.756231729 Callum VoisinRodin Motorsport19 +21.166191811 Sebastián MontoyaCampos Racing19 +22.907291917 Charlie WurzJenzer Motorsport19 +24.62916208 Kacper SztukaMP Motorsport19 +26.62524216 Santiago RamosTrident19 +27.34982220 Noel LeónVan Amersfoort Racing19 +30.135132321 Sophia FlörschVan Amersfoort Racing19 +33.128252428 Joshua DufekPHM AIX Racing19 +37.819 262530 Piotr WiśnickiRodin Motorsport19 +38.205 282616 Cian ShieldsHitech Pulse-Eight19 +40.079302731 Joseph LoakeRodin Motorsport19 +40.715212822 Tommy SmithVan Amersfoort Racing19 +1:00.47327291 Dino BeganovicPrema Racing19 +1:30.02912DNF19 Matías ZagazetaJenzer Motorsport15 Collision damage20Fastest lap set by Laurens van Hoepen: 1:50.401 (lap 2)Source:
Feature race The feature race was held on 2 March 2024, at 12:00 local time (UTC+3).
DriverTeamLapsTime/Gap114 Luke BrowningHitech Pulse-Eight22 41:08.012225223 Christian MansellART Grand Prix22 +1.26481837 Tim TramnitzMP Motorsport22 +2.43271545 Sami MeguetounifTrident22 +5.65441256 Santiago RamosTrident22 +6.93051062 Gabriele MinìPrema Racing22 +8.2003874 Leonardo FornaroliTrident22 +8.88866 (1)83 Arvid LindbladPrema Racing22 +9.5429499 Alex DunneMP Motorsport22 +16.6191421010 Oliver GoetheCampos Racing22 +17.0321711125 Nikola TsolovART Grand Prix22 +18.076111220 Noel LeónVan Amersfoort Racing22 +19.45113131 Dino BeganovicPrema Racing22 +20.0211(2)1415 Martinius StenshorneHitech Pulse-Eight22 +21.734221524 Laurens van HoepenART Grand Prix22 +22.676121617 Charlie WurzJenzer Motorsport22 +23.108161711 Sebastián MontoyaCampos Racing22 +23.679291819 Matías ZagazetaJenzer Motorsport22 +30.847251926 Tasanapol InthraphuvasakPHM AIX Racing22 +34.409222027 Nikita BedrinPHM AIX Racing22 +34.902182129 Callum VoisinRodin Motorsport22 +35.839192222 Tommy SmithVan Amersfoort Racing22 +37.465272331 Joseph LoakeRodin Motorsport22 +41.131202418 Max EstersonJenzer Motorsport22 +42.347102530 Piotr WiśnickiRodin Motorsport22 +52.341282616 Cian ShieldsHitech Pulse-Eight22 +53.921302728 Joshua DufekPHM AIX Racing22 +59.97926288 Kacper SztukaMP Motorsport22 +1:03.836232912 Mari BoyaCampos Racing22 +1:28.231153021 Sophia FlörschVan Amersfoort Racing21 +1 lap24Fastest lap set by Dino Beganovic: 1:50.261 (lap 2)Source:
Notes: – Nikita Bedrin originally finished eighteenth, but was later given a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits multiple times, dropping him down to 20th place in the final classification. – Sophia Flörsch retired on the final lap, but was classified as she completed over 90% of the race distance.
Standings after the event
Drivers' Championship standings Driver Points 1 Luke Browning 25 2 Tim Tramnitz 21 3 Christian Mansell 18 4 Leonardo Fornaroli 15 5 Arvid Lindblad 14 Teams' Championship standings Team Points 1 Trident 38 2 ART Grand Prix 35 3 Prema Racing 28 4 Hitech Pulse-Eight 25 5 MP Motorsport 23
Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings.
See also 2024 Bahrain Grand Prix 2024 Sakhir Formula 2 round
Notes
References
External links
Official website