Sixteen year old sensation Theo Pourchaire has secured his maiden pole position after a dominant performance in Qualifying at Monza.
With two race weekends of the 2020 Formula 3 Championship remaining a good qualifying performance in Monza was more important than ever for championship leaders Logan Sargeant and Oscar Piastri. The PREMA pair lead the Championship with Sargeant seven points ahead of Piastri.
Qualifying began as all drivers exited the pitlane with Jake Hughes setting the fastest lap of the opening runs. Frederik Vesti and Theo Pourchaire also looked competitive as drivers fought for the tow on track. Despite struggling on their first Qualifying laps, both Sargeant and Piastri made significant improvements on their second laps allowing the drivers to provisionally lock out the second row of the grid. Trident’s David Beckmann also improved on his opening lap to move one-tenth behind Hughes who continued to improve upon his qualifying time.
ART Grand Prix was the first team to have significant success using the tow with drivers Pourchaire and Smolyar. With assistance from his teammate, Pourchaire was able to take provisional pole by the smallest of margins after setting purple sectors in sectors 1 and 2. However, Pourchaire’s moment of glory was quickly snatched away as Beckmann, Vesti and Nannini all moved ahead of the French driver in a flurry of impressive lap times.
Second Half of Qualifying
With fifteen minutes of qualifying remaining, all drivers returned to the pits in preparation for the final part of the session. Most drivers returned to the track with around ten minutes remaining however their chances to improve their grid position were temporarily squandered after stewards red-flagged the session. This occurred as a result of a radiator fan from the car of Liam Lawson being deposited on track. Race control announced that the incident would be investigated after the session.
Upon the restart, Pourchaire struck first retaking pole position from Beckmann by two-tenths of a second. Meanwhile, Hughes found himself frustrated as whilst on an impressive lap the British driver encountered a train of traffic which ruined his prospects of pole position. Pourchaire’s closest challenge came from Lirim Zendeli who momentarily seized pole before the young French driver improved once again with a 1:37:301, establishing a gap of four-tenths to the pack behind.
Despite the seemingly perfect afternoon for Pourchaire, his maiden pole position could be under threat as in the closing stages of qualifying, Stewards announced their intention to investigate an “impeding” incident between Pourchaire and Clement Novalak. As the checkered flag fell Pourchaire sealed pole position ahead of Zendeli and Smolyar. Championship frontrunners Sargeant and Piastri will start the race in P10 and P12 respectively after a disappointing session.
Top 10 Results
1. T. Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1:37.301
2. L. Zendeli Trident 1:37.752
3. A. Smolyar ART Grand Prix 1:37.788
4. L. Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1:37.788
5. D. Beckmann Trident 1:37.809
6. F. Vesti PREMA Racing 1:38.015
7. M. Nannini Jenzer Motorsport 1:38.036
8. J. Hughes HWA Racelab 1:38.051
9. C. Williams Jenzer Motorsport 1:38.064
10. L. Sargeant PREMA Racing 1:38.095
Featured Image Credit: fiaformula3.com
