F2/F3 Power Rankings - A shock win and a Mini masterclass in Monaco

Ollie Bearman, Oliver Bearman, F2 Power Rankings, Social — Photo: © IMAGO

F2/F3 Power Rankings - A shock win and a Mini masterclass in Monaco

Monaco proved that you can always count on F2 and F3 for action and entertainment even when F1 fails

Jim Kimberley

Tuesday 28 May 2024 10:57 Updated: 12:56

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The 2024 Monaco Grand Prix brought the feel-good factor to Formula 1 for Charles Leclerc's emotional home-soil victory, but not so much any overtaking action.

Thankfully for fans of wheel-to-wheel racing, there were plenty of chaotic laps and even a late lead change in Monte Carlo's support series.

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Formula 3, in particular, provided entertainment with a crazy six-car pile-up and on-track overtakes.

Yet F2 had the result that'll last long in the memory after Zak O'Sullivan gambled it all and won big.

Here are the top three junior drivers from F2 and F3 in Monaco.

Formula 2

Isack Hadjar - A

Hadjar is again my top F2 driver in a season that looks like he must battle 21 other drivers and lady luck should he want to emerge as champion.

The Frenchman drove a stellar race on Sunday to do enough to be the race winner, especially after Richard Verschoor's driveshaft decided it had enough.

And still, he didn't win, thanks to ART and O'Sullivan's 40-lap wager on a Safety Car or VSC slowdown for a free pit stop. Don't worry, Isack, you won my F2 Power Rankings, at least.

Paul Aron - B+

The new championship leader, which is an incredible thing to say about the rookie driver, continues to take podium finishes in every round of 2024.

With so much attention on Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Aron seems fired up to show that Mercedes might've been premature in dropping him from their driver programme and betting it all on the young Italian.

He qualified well, just 0.037s away from the front row, and is making me believe he's not just enjoying beginner's luck with this new Dallara chassis and is a genuine title contender.

Ollie Bearman - B

After some signs of progress in Imola, PREMA looked slightly lost again in Monaco as (presumably) F1-bound Bearman and Antonelli languished in the midfield.

Bearman made up for his miserable qualifying performance, where he took P12 and picked up a Sprint Race grid drop for impeding, by crossing the line P4 in Sunday's Feature Race.

His pit strategy helped, as did Franco Colapinto's mysterious lack of pace to hold up Bearman's competitors, but the Brit still had to make on-track passes on the Argentinian and teammate Antonelli to reach P4.

Had O'Sullivan's pit stop come four seconds later, meaning disqualification for not swapping tyres due to F2's pitting-under-VSC rules, Bearman would've driven to a podium like his Ferrari siblings.

Formula 3

Gabriele Miní - A+

Imagine finding a driver in F3 who has reached the Monaco podium thrice and has two victories around the principality as a teenager.

There's no need to imagine, as that is what Miní's racing record boasts after his second lights-to-flag Monaco victory in F3 machinery.

A faultless Sunday drive and a fantastic pole lap could describe his 2023 or 2024 Monaco weekend, as the Alpine junior became the championship leader in a monumental weekend for Miní's title hopes.

Christian Mansell - A-

The track conditions should've favoured Qualifying Group B, which Mansell was a part of in Monaco, but the Australian won't begrudge a front-row start from his Friday effort.

Had Miní hesitated at the start, Mansell might've been the one to win.

Still, you can't deny how well he shrugged off any Saturday disappointments from his involvement in the unavoidable but hilarious Casino pile-up.

He now has two podium finishes in 2024, both in Feature Races, and you suspect he'll be a winner by the end of the season with his drives this year.

Arvid Lindblad- B+

Luke Browning, Leonardo Fornaroli, and Dino Beganovic all have Monaco experience, and they all performed well in Monte Carlo to pick up points for their championship hopes.

Nonetheless, Lindblad headed into the most critical qualifying of the F3 season without any dry-weather Monaco running after a stop-start F3 practice session on Friday, then promptly put his PREMA on the second row.

The 16-year-old British hopeful is vaulting over every barrier in his way and is the most consistent rookie by some margin from a grid stacked full of talent. What a future he has.