by Alex Johnston
The F3 season is here! As a warm up to round one, I was delighted to be able to get some quick answers from series commentator, Chris McCarthy about who expects to be the stars this year!
1. Who’s going to win the title? Gabriele Mini - He won the Italian F4 title in 2020 beating several drivers on this grid including Dino Beganovic when the pair were last teammates at Prema Racing. It's his first time back with the team since then and now back at the top of the teams standings I feel he will excel and after his form at Bahrain last year I think we will see him off to a winning start too.
📸 Gabriele Mini.
2. Who’ll win the teams title? Prema Racing - It is an obvious choice but I think the possible title fight between teammates Gabriele Mini and Dino Beganovic could see them take yet another Teams title. Arvid Lindblad will no doubt improve as the season goes on and his points, particularly in the second half of the season, should see them over the line from possible big challengers in Campos Racing, MP Motorsport and Hitech Pulse-Eight.
📸 Can Dino Beganovic help guide the team to a second consecutive teams title?
3. Who’ll be the top rookie? Alex Dunne - how quickly he adapted to the car in pre-season testing was very impressive and that combined with his Macau Grand Prix performance makes him the rookie driver to watch.
📸 What is Alex Dunne capable of in his rookie season?
He slots into an all rookie line up at MP Motorsport where I think we will see a big fight for the top rookie spot, but I think the fact Alex does not carry the weight of Red Bull Junior Team pressure will make him the lead driver in the standings at the end.
4. Who’ll be the surprise package? Nikola Tsolov - I truly believe Nikola will fight for the title this year and I think that is a performance many will not see coming.
📸 Bulgarian Alpine Academy star, Nikola Tsolov.
Similar to how Pepe Marti fired up the standings last season I think we will see a similar rise from the Alpine junior this year who will lead ART Grand Prix back into the title fight where they belong after a very difficult season last year.
5. Who is your ‘one to watch'? Luke Browning - He has been very quick in testing, that coming after a brilliant win over in Macau and I think this could be the first time we see the Hitech Pulse-Eight team win the FIA Formula 3 title. Similar to how Isack Hadjar fought for the title in 2022, I think Luke will do the same this year but the confidence he carries from recent wins and pre-season testing form could just make him the man to beat when we get started in 2024.
📸 Luke Browning(left) with PREMA's F2 driver Ollie Bearman.
Thanks to Chris for his time, and fingers crossed for an exciting season!
📸 Image credits: Formula Motorsport Limited, MP Motorsport, PREMA Racing.
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