Spectacular finale in F3: Fornaroli clinches title in the final corner
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Leonardo Fornaroli becomes the FIA Formula 3 champion at his home race after a stunning final race of the season. A last-lap overtake at the final corner on Christian Mansell for P3 meant he just pipped Gabriele Mini to the title, allowing the Italian to win the title on home soil in front of many home fans.
Four drivers had the opportunity to win the championship on the final day: Fornaroli, Mini, Luke Browning and Arvid Lindblad. Fornaroli, who started today's feature race on the pole, led the championship standings with 133 points, with Mini, starting third, sitting just three points behind him. For Browning, he was just two points behind Mini in the championship, also giving him a great chance to take the title, but starting in P13 meant he had some work to do. For Lindblad, he sat 20 points off Fornaroli with 113, needing a win to have any chance of the title, but looked unlikely to do so starting 17th.
Fornaroli holds on to win the championship after hectic final race
As the lights went out for the final time in the 2024 F3 season, Fornaroli dropped to second off the line, overtaken by Alex Dunne. However, behind him, Mini's start eas poorer dropping down to to fourth in the first couple of laps as he started to lose out to the championship leader in P2.
Behind those two, Browning's title challenge seemed to be all but over, as the Brit spun at Ascari and was forced to go into the pits, all but ending his chances of taking the title. That also brought out the safety car, and Browning was also given a five-second penalty for a safety car infringement later in the race.
When the safety car came in, it looked like only Fornaroli would win the title as Mini started to struggle on his tyres, dropping out of the top three in the process. However, Mini looked to have the better tyres going into the final few laps, and he was able to overtake Fornaroli into P2. Fornaroi then dropped behind Mansell with two laps to go, meaning Mini would win the title by one point.
However, in a final, dramatic twist, around the final corner, Fornaroli made a brave lunge down the inside of Mansell, pushing the Australian wide at Parabolica and meaning he dropped down to P4. P3 was enough for Fornaroli to take the championship away from Mini and win the F3 title at his home race.
For Lindblad, after starting P17, he managed to make a move up into the top ten, but there was far too much to do for the Brit in the last race of the year. After spinning at Ascari and getting a five-second penalty, Browning could only finish in P14, missing out on the superb opportunity.
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