Tag: Arvid Lindblad

Monza Madness: Verstappen Ends Pole Curse, Browning Breaks Through, and Inthraphuvasak Seals Campos Glory

Monza Madness: Verstappen Ends Pole Curse, Browning Breaks Through, and Inthraphuvasak Seals Campos Glory

The Temple of Speed lived up to its billing as Monza delivered a weekend of chaos, heartbreak, and breakthrough triumphs across Formula 1, Formula 2, and Formula 3. From Max Verstappen finally ending a six-year curse to Luke Browning grabbing his first F2 win, and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak firing Campos to a historic F3 title, the Italian weekend had it all.

Formula 1: Verstappen Survives McLaren Crossfire

The race began before the lights even went out, with Nico Hülkenberg pulling into the pit lane on the formation lap and retiring immediately. Only 17 cars actually took the grid, as Hadjar and Gasly also started from the pits.

At lights out, Lando Norris was shoved onto the grass down the front stretch, while Verstappen cut the first chicane to hang onto the lead. To avoid the stewards’ wrath, he finally ceded the spot to Norris down the main straight to complete lap one.

Early pit strategies kicked off with Oliver Bearman diving in at the end of lap 18, but his undercut attempt on Yuki Tsunoda fizzled—though he made the pass on track with warmer tires soon after. Gravel at Lesmo two briefly looked like it might be a hazard, but it stayed safely off line.

Fernando Alonso’s day ended on lap 25 with suspension failure, and things only escalated from there. Lawson and Tsunoda made contact, Verstappen developed visible blistering on his tires by lap 30, and on lap 41 Bearman and Carlos Sainz tangled, sending both spinning. The stewards slapped Bearman with a 10-second penalty.

McLaren drama lit up the final stint: Norris lost out to Oscar Piastri after a brutal six-second pit stop, only to be gifted the place back via team orders with five laps remaining. Free to race, Norris held second to the flag.

Up front, Verstappen never cracked. He became the first pole-sitter to win at Monza since 2019, finishing ahead of Norris and Piastri. Alexander Albon’s P7 result pushed Williams to 86 points—already more than the team scored in the previous seven seasons combined. Kimi Antonelli crossed the line in eighth but was bumped to ninth by a penalty for erratic driving.

Top 3: Verstappen, Norris, Piastri

Standings snapshot: Oscar Piastri leads the Drivers’ Championship on 324 points, 31 clear of teammate Norris. Verstappen sits third on 230. McLaren (617) nearly doubles Ferrari (280) in the Constructors’. Williams’ 86 is its best season in a decade.

Formula 2: Browning Breaks Through

Qualifying set the tone with three red flags, the last triggered by Richard Verschoor crashing into the wall. That handed Luke Browning pole. The sprint was wild as ever: Zane Maloney spun into the gravel on lap two, bringing out the safety car, and Leonardo Fornaroli capitalized to win.

The feature, though, belonged to Browning. He nailed the start but was quickly chased down by Joshua Durksen, who made an early move for the lead. Goethe’s strategy was undone when Dunne’s crash brought out the safety car right after Goethe had pitted—dumping him to eighth while rivals boxed under yellow.

The restart carnage was pure F2. Shields hit the wall just as the race was about to resume, then Arvid Lindblad locked up massively into turn one, clattering Stanek and dragging Victor Martins into the wreck. All four retired, another safety car deployed. At the second restart, Durksen stole the lead from Browning, while Sami Meguetounif spun through the runoff.

But Browning wasn’t done. On lap 19 he retook the lead, controlled the chaos, and drove on to his first Formula 2 victory. Durksen and Pepe Martí joined him on the podium.

Top 3: Browning, Durksen, Martí

Standings snapshot: Browning’s breakthrough vaults him to the championship lead on 174 points, with Fornaroli (153) and Verschoor (144) still in the hunt. The title fight remains alive heading into the fall stretch.

Formula 3: Inthraphuvasak Ignites Campos

Rafael Câmara arrived at Monza already crowned champion, so the spotlight shifted to the fight for second in the Drivers’ standings and the Constructors’ title between Campos and Trident.

Qualifying had been split, with Ugo Ugochukwu and Brad Benavides topping their groups to set up an all-American front row. The sprint race went to Tim Tramnitz, but the finale was where the fireworks truly lit.

The feature began with a lap-one safety car after Charlie Wurz was caught up, and it didn’t slow down. Benavides and Ugochukwu swapped positions. So many safety cars as another came out was out as Ugochukwu spun into the gravel after hitting debris on the racing line.

Benavides and Nikola Tsolov then went back and forth for the lead around lap 13, Benavides hanging on at the end of the lap. But lap 17 was decisive—Inthraphuvasak launched into Turn 1 and swept past both Benavides and Tsolov in a single move to take control.

Câmara, starting all the way back in 30th, staged a furious charge through the field and ended up P5, a fitting exclamation point to his dominant season.

Inthraphuvasak’s victory sealed Campos’ first ever FIA Formula 3 Teams’ Championship, with Tsolov’s runner-up finish enough to secure second in the Drivers’ standings.

Top 3: Inthraphuvasak, Tsolov, Noel León

Standings snapshot: Câmara ends champion on 166 points, Tsolov second on 124, Mari Boya third on 116. Campos Racing clinched the Teams’ title over Trident, 314 to 303.

The Takeaway

Monza delivered on every front. Formula 1 saw Verstappen break the pole curse while McLaren’s team orders kept the championship story simmering. Formula 2 once again proved it’s the sport’s chaos engine, with Luke Browning finally turning promise into silverware. And Formula 3’s curtain call crowned Campos, Tsolov, and Inthraphuvasak in a finale worthy of the season.

The Temple of Speed might as well be renamed the Temple of Storylines.

2024 F1 Jeddah Preview

2024 F1 Jeddah Preview

FP1 in Bahrain raised a ton of hope among F1 fans that this year might be more competitive than last. FP2 and FP3 continued to raise hope, but then the inevitable happened. Red Bull was only a top three fastest in one of the three practice sessions, but Verstappen got pole in qualifying and put in an even bigger margin of victory than he did last year as Red Bull finished 1-2 and left with maximum points.

There were plenty of big stories out of the race weekend including the struggles of Alpine, qualifying 19 and 20. They finished 17 and 18, with the only two drivers behind them being Valtteri Bottas who was in a lap one collision that saw him drive the rest of the way with a damaged front wing, and Logan Sargeant who had mechanical issues and had to pull off the track for nearly a minute before switching out his steering wheel.

RB went downhill all weekend after Daniel Ricciardo was fastest in FP1 and Yuki Tsunoda was third fastest in that session. They qualified 14th and 11th respectively but the focus was late in the race when Tsunoda was instructed to give up position to Ricciardo but the move was argued and delayed quite some time, creating clear frustration from both parties.

Only five teams scored points, with Red Bull going 1-2 followed by the Ferrari’s finishing 3 and 4. Mercedes and McClaren are in an early battle as George Russell finished just ahead of Lando Norris, who was just ahead of Lewis Hamilton, who was just ahead of Oscar Piastri. The final two points spots went to the Aston Martins.

Jeddah is a high speed tight track that is sure to provide plenty of action, although it seems clear already Max Vestappen is a class all his own yet again, and the rest of the pack will battle behind him.

F2 and F1 Academy will serve as support races this weekend, just as F2 and F3 did a week ago.

F3 saw 16-year-old Arvid Lindblad win the sprint race and Luke Browning take home the featured race. Meanwhile, the F2 weekend was dominated by Zane Maloney, as he won both the sprint and featured races. He should see plenty of competition this weekend though, especially from Gabriel Bortoletto, who won pole position but made contact Isack Hadjar and was given a a 10 second penalty as Hadjar and Enzo Fittipaldi, who had the fastest lap in the sprint, both retired on lap one.

F1 Academy is in it’s second season, and this year we will see F1 liveries on the track. Amna Al Qubaisi, Hamda Al Qubaisi, Abbi Pulling, and Bianca Bustamante headline the field as they all return for another season. One name that may standout for facing fans is Lia Block. Block is the daughter of legendary late American rally driver, Ken Block. Lia will be driving for ART in the Williams livery car.