The 2024 Formula 3 season will reach its conclusion on the weekend of 31 August at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.
Ran across 10 rounds from March to September on iconic racing circuits, Formula 3 houses some of the best up-and-coming talent who are striving towards making it to the pinnacle of motorsport.
This season has seen some tight action at the front of the grid which has culminated in the final round of the championship being set for a dramatic fight for the title.
With a maximum of 39 points up for grabs – 10 for the sprint race win, 25 for the feature race win, two points for taking pole position and another two for setting the fastest lap in both races – there are seven drivers with a mathematical possibility of winning the championship.
Here are the young talents in with that shot of glory and how they’ve faired across the season.
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Leonardo Fornaroli
Current position: 1st
Points: 129
Italian teenage sensation Leonardo Fornaroli is the current championship leader in what is his second season in F3.
The 19-year-old Trident driver finished 11th in the standings in 2023 with three podiums and has doubled that tally this season to six as he sits top of the standings heading to his home event.
Interestingly, Fornaroli has not taken victory this season, or in fact at all in his F3 career thus far. Consistency is what has led the Italian to the top, as he has finished every race and only missed out on points in two of them.
With his rivals so close behind him, the Italian will need that elusive win more than ever to extend the gap and stand a good chance of bringing home the title.
If victory escapes him, Fornaroli will have to rely on his outstanding consistency and his rivals’ positions to become the F3 champion.
Gabriele Mini
Current position: 2nd
Points: 128
Fornaroli’s Italian compatriot Gabriele Mini is his closest rival for the title, with the 19-year-old sat just one point behind the Trident driver.
Mini is also in his second season in F3, having moved from Hitech last season after finishing seventh in the standings to powerhouse PREMA Racing.
PREMA is known as one of the best teams in junior motorsport, and this reputation has continued in 2024 with all three of their drivers in the hunt for the F3 title; Mini being the highest ranked.
The Alpine Academy driver has one victory to his name in the feature race in Monaco, with a total of five podiums.
While he has finished outside the points more times than Fornaroli, three of his other four podiums besides his victory were second places, while five of the former’s six have been third places.
With such a slim margin between the two, Mini will be hoping to beat Fornaroli across the weekend and keep his rivals behind him at bay.
Luke Browning
Current position: 3rd
Points: 123
The top three are separated by just six points heading into the season finale, and with 39 points on offer, third place Luke Browning is in a good position to challenge.
The 22-year-old has made significant improvements in 2024 after a disappointing first season in F3 with Hitech last year, finishing down in 15th.
This season, Browning has two victories in the feature races in Bahrain and Austria and a third place finish in Monaco to put him within touching distance of Fornaroli.
At Monza last year, the Brit rose from 27th in the sprint race to finish an incredible fifth, but was disqualified for having an illegal floor. 18th in the feature race summed up a disappointing end to the season.
However, as seen by that sprint race performance, Browning is capable of a special result around this circuit and will be one to keep an eye on over the weekend as he fights the homegrown talent in front of him in the standings.
Arvid Lindblad
Current position: 4th
Points: 113
The second PREMA driver in the title fight, Arvid Lindblad is considered one of the rising stars in the world of motorsport.
At only 17, Lindblad is the youngest driver on the F3 grid this year, and he has taken to the category strongly in what is his debut season.
Coming off the back of finishing third in Italian F4 last season, the Brit has won more races than any other driver in F3 in 2024, claiming four victories.
However, Lindblad comes into the final race at Monza on the worst run of form out of the seven title contenders. Despite winning both races on home soil at Silverstone, he failed to score in the last two rounds in Hungary and Belgium.
Trailing Fornaroli by 16 points, the PREMA driver – who could well be in for promotion to Formula 2 with Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli set for Formula 1 – will need to produce another moment of magic as he has done in parts this season.
Dino Beganovic
Current position: 5th
Points: 100
The third and final PREMA driver is Dino Beganovic, and he has a mountain to climb to win the title next weekend.
The Bosnian-Swedish driver finished sixth in the standings last season with PREMA in his debut year in F3 and currently sits one position better this year with 100 points.
Beganovic started the season with zero points from the opening three races, before finishing the next seven inside the top eight, including his first win in the category in the feature race in Australia.
The 20-year-old registered three podiums in the last four rounds, including his second win at Spa in the sprint race, giving Beganovic an outside chance of the title as he sits 29 points behind the leader.
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Christian Mansell
Current position: 6th
Points: 97
ART Grand Prix’ Christian Mansell is one of two drivers who stand a mathematical chance of winning the title, but are more than likely too far behind to realistically achieve it.
The Australian, like Fornaroli, has not won a race thus far in 2024 – or in F3 in general – as he has struggled for consistent points finishes.
In the nine-point finishes he has achieved, Mansell has finished in the top five seven times, including four podiums – three of them being second place finishes.
The 19-year-old will have to rely on the top five having a miserable weekend at Monza if he is to stand any chance of claiming the championship, as Mansell sits 32 points behind Fornaroli.
Oliver Goethe
Current position: 7th
Points: 94
Sitting 35 points behind the championship leader with 39 points up for grabs, Oliver Goethe has an incredibly slim mathematical chance of becoming the F3 champion.
The German driver joined Campos Racing from Trident in 2024 after having a challenging first season in F3 last year, finishing eighth in the standings.
Goethe sits one position better in seventh going into the season finale having had a far more consistent season, with just three finishes outside the points and one retirement all year.
But with just three podiums – one being a win at Imola – the Red Bull junior driver’s low point-scoring finishes have put him probably well out of reach for the title.
It may be a very small chance for Goethe, but crazy things happen in motorsport.