The winter break is coming to an end: the cars are ready and the grid has been decided. So, before the circus disembarks in Bahrain, let’s take a look at the teams and drivers who will compete in this FIA F3 2024 season!
Between big certainties and last minute announcements, we can already see that no less than 17 of the 30 drivers competing are rookies from the FRECA and the various national F4s. However, there are also better-known names who got us excited last season, such as Dino Beganovic or Oliver Goethe.
But now let’s see how the 10 teams are composed!
Prema Racing
After a hard-fought victory for the constructors’ title in 2023, the Vicenza-based team has chosen to confirm the now much-loved Dino Beganovic and the Italian Gabriele Minì (ex-Hitech). It is a big and welcome return to Prema. The two were in fact already teammates in 2020, when Minì won the Italian Formula 4 Championship. Will the Swede be able to get the better of them four years later?
Completing the line-up is the promising RedBull rookie Arvid Lindblad, fresh from his third place in the drivers’ classification of the Italian Formula 4 Championship with Prema.
MP Motorsport
MP Motorsport has instead opted for a complete renewal of the F3 team and, looking at the names, it cannot be said that they are inexperienced drivers. First up is German Tim Tramniz, third in FRECA with R-ace GP. Next up is Kacper Stzuka, reigning Italian F4 champion with US racing, whom we had the opportunity to interview over the Vallelunga weekend. As third driver MP has chosen Irishman Alexander Dunne, who finished second in the British Formula 3 Championship with Hitech in 2023.
Hitech GP
The British team has chosen to renew Luke Browning for a second season. Despite a lacklustre first season, the 2002-born driver has been greatly revalued after his victory at the historic Macau Grand Prix. One of his companions for this year will be Martinius Stenshorne, a Norwegian talent who fought throughout 2023 with Andrea Kimi Antonelli for the title in FRECA, finishing second in his first year in the category. Completing the team is rookie Cian Shields, runner-up in the last Euroformula Open Championship with four victories.
Van Amersfoort Racing
VAR, on the other hand, has only one rookie, the Mexican Noel Leon who, after several years in the American propaedeutic championships, competed in the FRECA championship in 2022 and the Euroformula Open Championship in 2023, of which he is the reigning champion. Alongside him we will also see Australian Thomas Smith, whom the Dutch team chose to renew after a difficult season. Finally we have Sophia Flörsch, who returned to Formula 3 last year with PHM Racing after two years in the endurance championships.
PHM AIX RACING
For its second year in the category, the team’s line-up will consist of two rookies and Nikita Bedrin, who raced with Jenzer Motorsport last year. New faces this season include Thailand’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who competed in the Eurocup-3 and FRMEC in 2023, and Austria’s Joshua Dufek, whose palmares include four different F3 championships.
Trident
The Italian team, after having led Gabriel Bortoleto to victory in the drivers’ title and having come close to the constructors’ title, has decided to continue with Leonardo Fornaroli, after a 2023 that had already brought some satisfaction. Accompanying him will be Sami Meguetounif, fresh from a top 10 finish in both FRMEC and FRECA, who is, however, at his first experience in FIA F3. The other rookie who will complete the team is Mexican Santiago Ramos, who last year fought with Meguetounif for tenth place in FRECA, finishing eleventh.
Campos Racing
Last year Campos came close to a podium finish in the costars with 179 points behind MP Motorsport’s 194, and this year they are the only team without a single rookie. In fact, they have renewed Mari Boya, who convinced the team with his podium at Monza and his second place in the Eurocup-3. Alongside him will be Sebastián Montoya who, for his second full year in the category, returns to race with Campos after having competed with them in the Dutch Grand Prix in 2022. Rounding out the line-up is Oliver Goethe, a former Trident driver. He had also raced with the Spanish team in the Hungarian and Belgian Grand Prix in 2022. Were these moves meditated on a few years ago? F3 drivers
Jenzer Motorsport
Jenzer, however, just like MP Motorsport, has decided to compete with rookies only! The first is Charlie Wurz who, competing in three different Formula 3 categories, managed to win the drivers’ title in the Formula Regional of Oceania in 2023, with no less than 7 podiums and never finishing outside the top 8 in 15 races. Then we have Maxwell Esterson, who you might have seen on the grid last year at Silverstone and Budapest with Rodin Carlin. His main category, however, was British Formula 3, which he finished in 11th position. The last of the Jenzer drivers for 2024 is Peruvian Matías Zagazeta, who completed a complicated second season in FRECA last year.
ART Grand Prix
The French team has had a decidedly uphill 2023, and it will not be easy to recover after an eighth place in the team classification, especially if you are used to being on the podium. The choice of drivers is therefore more crucial than ever. For this season they have chosen Australian Christian Mansell, who last year took the podium at Silverstone and Spa for Campos. They then retained Nikola Tsolov from last season, hoping that the work done in 2023 will finally pay off. Finally they have set their sights on Dutch rookie Laurens Van Hoepen, who last year competed in both the FRECA and the Macau Grand Prix with ART GP, finishing tenth in both.
Rodin Motorsport
The last team is Rodin, who finished last last year having only scored two points throughout the season. Callum Voisin, class of 2006 and reigning British Formula 3 champion with Rodin Carlin, will race for them in 2024. His partner will be Joseph Loake, who last year fought for the drivers’ title in GB3 and finished the season in third position. The last driver chosen by Rodin is instead Piotr Wiśnicki, who competed eight races in FIA F3 with PHM in 2023. Will this be enough to climb the rankings?
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