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Italy’s Gabriele Mini (Prema Racing), who started from pole position, completed a historic double by winning the Formula 3 Monaco Grand Prix for the second year in a row, a few hours before the 81st Formula 1 Grand Prix de Monaco.
A member of the Alpine Drivers Academy, Mini was never troubled in a race slowed three times by the exit of the safety car. He finished right at the top of the podium, accompanied by Australian Christian Mansell (ART Grand Prix), who is not related to Nigel, the F1 world champion, and by Briton Luke Browning (HiTech), another candidate for the F2 crown at the end of the season.
The race, scheduled to last 27 laps, was slowed down three times, firstly when Charly Wurz hit the safety rail at the Portier turn, in Lap 1. Then when Nikola Tsolov, winner of the Sprint Race on Saturday, and Noel Leon, the Mexican of Van Amersfoort Racing, collided at the Mirabeau bend on lap 21. Sami Meguetounif, the only Frenchman in the race, was unable to pass and ended up against the safety rail, his car then being lifted by a crane.
The third race incident saw Dutchman Laurens van Hoepen, 3rd in Saturday’s Sprint, get into the rail on his own at Bureau de Tabac, just before the S de la Piscine, on lap 24, which caused the safety car to come out again.
The safety car returned to the pits just before the 27th and final lap, allowing Mini to cross the finish line at full speed and take full advantage of this second consecutive F3 victory on Monegasque soil.
This has only happened twice in the history of this very important race for a young driver: in 1961 and 1962, for Peter Arundell (Lotus), then in 1981 and 1982, for Michel Ferté (Martini).
