– Double 2024 race winner ends campaign with P4 and P9 at Monza
– Swede finishes sixth in championship standings
Dino Beganovic rounded out the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship with double points finishes in the last round of the season at Monza, ending up sixth overall in the final standings.
Beganovic entered the finale with an outside chance of the title, having won two races earlier in the campaign, but experienced a largely challenging time at the Italian venue as he struggled for car balance and top speed.
Despite lapping just 0.138s off the quickest time in his qualifying group on Friday, the Swedish PREMA driver was shuffled to tenth on the feature race grid on a close-fought weekend, and finished the Sunday main event in the same position after surviving a high-speed trip across the gravel trap. After a fellow rival was later disqualified, Beganovic was classified ninth.
In the interim between qualifying and the feature race, Beganovic picked up a P4 finish in Saturday’s sprint race.
Aggregating a total of 109 championship points throughout the campaign, the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy racer ends his second season of FIA F3 competition in sixth place overall.
“It’s a disappointing way to end the season to be honest,” says Dino Beganovic. “We haven’t had the pace all weekend and were slow in general, mainly on the straights. Unfortunately not the end to the season that I wanted, but there just wasn’t much to do. We didn’t have the raceable car you need here at Monza, and that makes it really tough to be competitive.”
Beganovic can look back at a year of ups and downs in the F3 paddock, with highlights including a feature race win in Melbourne, a sprint race win at Spa-Francorchamps, a further two podiums and 13 points-paying top ten results from a total of 20 races.
He also has one pole position (Bahrain) and three fastest laps to his season tally.
“We started the year on a high note, claiming pole for the opening round in Bahrain and then winning in Australia, but since then it’s been a more challenging summer,” Dino Beganovic concludes. “P6 is certainly not what I envisaged in the championship, but you learn and you move on. I think I’ve had some lessons this year that will help me become a more complete driver and competitor. I’m disappointed with the season as a whole, but I’m also determined for whatever lies ahead in my career. I know there is so much more to give and I can’t wait to prove that in the future.
“Finally, I want to say a big thank you to everyone who has supported me this season. To my team, to Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, to my sponsors and all my fans – it means a lot.
“Thank you.”
RESULTS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
Rd. 10 – Monza (ITA)
|| Race 1 (full results)
1: T. Tramnitz (GER), MP Motorsport
2: S. Ramos (MEX), Trident
3: A. Dunne (IRE), MP Motorsport
—
4: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
|| Race 2 (full results)
1: S. Meguetounif (FRA), Trident
2: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Trident
3: C. Mansell (AUS), ART Grand Prix
—
9: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
FIA Formula 3 Championship
After 10/10 rounds (full standings)
1: L. Fornaroli (ITA), Trident, 153 p.
2: G. Minì (ITA), PREMA Racing, 130 p.
3: L. Browning (GBR), Hitech Pulse-Eight, 128 p.
4: A. Lindblad (GBR), PREMA Racing, 113 p.
5: C. Mansell (AUS), ART Grand Prix, 112 p.
6: D. Beganovic (SWE), PREMA Racing, 109 p.
