PREMA Racing achieved a points finish today in Monaco, competing in the opening race of the FIA Formula 3 Championship event supporting the F1 Grand Prix. With good positions gained in Qualifying, the PREMA drivers were hampered by their starting spots on the top-12 reverse grid.

The race lacked passing opportunities, and Dino Beganovic ended up as the team’s front-runner in the same position he had started from, P7. The Swede also secured the fastest lap and one bonus point.

Gabriele Minì improved one spot. The Italian had to avoid a multi-car crash at the start and managed to do so, but starting from P12, there was not much margin for further gains.

Unfortunately, Arvid Lindblad was involved in the early contact, which took him out of contention depriving him of a potential points finish after a quick start.

1 DINO BEGANOVIC

“It was a good race. We had great speed, and the car felt fast, we went for the fastest lap and got it, which was nice. The goal for today was to score points and get the extra for the fastest lap, so we did everything we could. The plan is to do the same tomorrow, and hope for the best. I’m happy because the car felt really strong. It’s a bit frustrating to be in the position we are in considering how fast we are, but we will do our best.”

Qualifying: P3 Gr.B
Starting Position Race 1: P7
Fastest lap: 1:25.078
Race 1: P7

2 GABRIELE MINÌ

“As we expected, we didn’t have many chances to overtake. There was a crash in front of me in Race 1, so I managed to gain one place up to P11. I tried to push a bit, which was not easy because the driver behind was really close, and I couldn’t create the gap to go for the fastest lap. When I had it, the tyres were already gone. Not ideal, but the key today was not to get any penalty and understand the start for tomorrow.”

Qualifying: P1 Gr.A
Starting Position Race 1: P12
Fastest lap: 1:23.942
Race 1: P11

3 ARVID LINDBLAD

“Not the best day today with contact in T3 during the opening lap, so I didn’t really participate in the race. A bit of a disappointment, but I was starting from P9, and we didn’t have huge chances to score a lot of points. Apologies to the mechanics for the damage. We look at tomorrow, starting from P4, a really good starting position, so we hope to pick up good points.”

Qualifying: P2 Gr.B
Starting Position Race 1: P9
Fastest lap: 1:24.940
Race 1: DNF

Source | Photo: PREMA Racing