Preview: FIA Formula 3 – Monza

The final round of the FIA Formula 3 season takes place in Monza this weekend, and with the top six drivers only being separated by fifteen points, the stage is set for a historic finale.

Monza returns to the calendar for the first time since 2020, where new Mclaren recruit Oscar Piastri took victory.

Leading the championship is ART GP’s Victor Martins. The Frenchman sat third in the standings heading into round eight in Zandvoort, but he regained his lead after picking up twenty points, after a seventh place finish in race one and a second place finish in race two.

Martins is in his second season in Formula 3, so this experience could be key in beating out the rookies in the high stakes final round.

One of these rookies battling for the title, is the current occupant of second place, Isack Hadjar. The seventeen year old has the most race wins of any driver in F3 this season, and despite picking up a solid fifteen points in Zandvoort, he still trails Martins by five points in the standings. 

Hadjar has scored one hundred and twenty one of his team, Hitech GP’s, one hundred and forty eight point total, mainly due to the Frenchman’s impressive five podiums, compared to his teammates, Kaylen Frederick and Nazim Azman, who are yet to deliver a podium.

Sitting third is Trident’s Roman Stanek. In his second season in Formula 3, Stanek has improved exponentially from last season, already picking up eighty more points than he did in the entirety of the 2021 campaign. This leaves Stanek on one hundred and nine, 17 points behind Martins in the lead, meaning the Czech will be looking to get his first win since round two in Imola, if he wants any chance of winning the 2022 Formula 3 championship.

Leading the way for PREMA in fourth place, is seventeen year old Oliver Bearman. The Brit fell to fourth this weekend, as a disaster in qualifying and a penalty in Sunday’s feature race meant he walked away from Zandvoort with zero points.

However, in the four rounds previous to Zandvoort, Bearman picked up an impressive seventy eight points, including a sprint race win in Spa. This means the PREMA man is still in the hunt for the Formula 3 title in his rookie season.

Last weekend’s star man, Zane Maloney rounds out the top five in the standings, as he lies three points adrift of Bearman ahead of him. The Barbadian made a fairly poor start to the season, but has been on a roll since round five in Spielberg, and if he can take his momentum from the last few race weekends, the Trident man has a real shot at securing the Formula 3 championship.

Trailing Maloney by a single point, is PREMA’s Arthur Leclerc. With only one win this season, many believe the Monagasque is failing to deliver on his potential, however if he was to pull off a monumental weekend in Monza, he could prove all the doubters wrong to take home the F3 title at the second time of asking.

The final contender for the top prize in Formula 3, is Red Bull junior Jak Crawford. Although his title ambitions look extremely far fetched, currently trailing Victor Martins by thirty six points, Motorsport can be unpredictable, and if things were to go the American’s way he could pull off a historic championship win.