F3 | Fornaroli wins the title with a last corner overtaking!

The final act of the Formula 3 season in Monza crowned Leonardo Fornaroli, who took the drivers’ title in a heated and hard-fought race in front of his home fans. In the splendid setting of Monza, the Italian driver took a fine third place and the title in a heart-stopping finale, with the decisive overtaking on Christian Mansell right at the last corner, launching himself with a late braking inside the Parabolica.

A maneuver that Fornaroli will certainly remember for a long time, especially considering the importance and difficulty of the attempt, for which it is also worth underlining the correctness shown by Mansell, who left a space to avoid contact. That overtaking proved decisive, because it allowed him to climb from fourth to third position, the minimum result to avoid losing the title to Gabriele Minì, good at bringing home a second place that proved to be bitter, but which, until a few meters from the last curve, seemed enough to take him to the Olympus of Formula 3.

With four contenders still fighting for the championship, the two most likely to win the world title were the two Italians, who were separated by just five points: however, in the event of a tie, the title would have gone to Minì, who had scored a victory in Monaco during the championship, unlike Fornaroli, who remained stuck at zero points next to the first places entry.

The race started with a dramatic turn of events, namely the spin of one of the four contenders, Luke Browning, who lost the rear of his Hitech entering the Ascari in the first laps, causing the intervention of the Safety Car. Immediately after the safety car returned to the pits, however, Fornaroli made a mistake right at the exit of the same sequence, cutting the last curve of the Ascari and losing several positions, which also caused him to slip behind Minì.

Despite the overtaking, the Prema driver seemed to be in trouble, so much so that Fornaroli was able to recover the position a few laps later, returning to the hunt for the leading group, with the clear hope of climbing the standings and securing the title. But it was precisely at that moment that Minì lit up, managing not only to stay glued to the drivers ahead of him, but also to overtake Alex Dunne, thus climbing into fourth position, right behind the Trident rival, who in the meantime had climbed up to the podium zone.

While Sami Meguetounif was able to pull away and gain a good safety margin that then led him to take victory in the final race of the season, attention was focused on the trio behind him, composed of Mansell, Fornaroli and Minì. The Trident driver gained second place on lap 18, but then locked up with the right front tyre, an aspect that then put him in difficulty for the remaining laps.

Gabriele Mini

Minì also wasted no time and, just before the Ascari, the Prema driver also made a good move, overtaking Mansell and starting to hunt down his rival. At that moment, the standings were still in Fornaroli’s favor: Minì’s only hope would have been to gain second place, trusting in a decline in his compatriot, who would have had to slip to at least fourth position, that is, right behind Mansell.

With a struggling Fornaroli, Minì completed the first part of the plan by overtaking the Trident driver at the start of the penultimate lap with the DRS, trying to slow the pace to also allow Mansell to pass, as actually happened at the Roggia chicane. In a few meters, the title situation had completely turned around, because Minì at that point was effectively in a position to win the championship, given that he would have triumphed with a one-point advantage.

However, despite the excellent work by Minì who always tried to provide DRS to Mansell to defend himself, Fornaroli did not give up and believed until the end, launching the decisive attack right at the last corner, in a complex and difficult attempt, given the distance from which he attempted the maneuver. Mansell was correct in leaving space, actually finishing wide beyond the white line, which allowed the Trident driver to climb back onto the podium, gaining those decisive points to regain the lead in the championship and, consequently, the title.

Leonardo Fornaroli, Trident

Photo credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd

“I can’t believe it, at the beginning of the year I knew we had potential, but we knew it would be difficult. Even if we didn’t win, we took two poles and we had a good pace during all the races this season,” Fornaroli commented at the end of the race after having won the world championship.

“Winning it on the last corner of the last lap is crazy. I made several mistakes during the race, like at Ascari, and I had to push to recover. I got to the block several times. I knew I had a chance, I tried at Roggia but I got to the block and we both went long. At that point at Parabolica I told myself to try and hope that the driver in front of me didn’t close. He was very correct not to close at the end, so I got on the podium and won the title”.