Day 1-
Nikola Tsolov ended Day 1 of running in Monte Carlo on top, as the Campos Racing driver led the way in Free Practice with a 1:25.622.
The Bulgarian driver beat MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz to the top time by 0.219s, as Trident’s Charlie Wurz rounded out the top three.
The drivers were immediately out on track on the carry over Medium tyres from Imola, looking to get up to speed as quickly as possible, as Callum Voisin led the way early on.
The Rodin Motorsport driver’s 1:29.512 was the benchmark but as the times improved, Tramnitz overtook P1 with a 1:28.875, leading his rookie MP teammate Alessandro Giusti by 0.114s.
The German continued to set the pace, completing a 1:27.733, before going even quicker to a 1:27.459, wit Giusti in P2 once more, over half a second behind.
The MP pairing were setting the timesheets alight as Giusti crossed the line to go P1, but only briefly as Tramnitz completed a 1:27.092 to eclipse his teammate by 0.082s.
After 25 minutes of running, the teams swapped the Mediums for the Soft tyres, looking to give the drivers a feel for the compound they will be using for the rest of the weekend.
But as the drivers set off on their laps, Trident’s Noah Stromsted collided with the barrier at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flags with less than 12 minutes to go in the session.
Green flag conditions returned with six minutes remaining, and it was Campos’ Mari Boya that took to the top on a 1:26.393.
However, as the chequered flag waved, the fastest time changed hands several times, before Tsolov ended the session on top with a 1:25.622.
Day 2-
The first 15 drivers headed out for Qualifying and after a few preparation laps, Tsolov went fastest on a 1:26.072, with PREMA Racing’s Noel Leon in P2, 0.261s behind.
Tsolov retained his place at the top with a 1:26.647 on his next push lap, but his gap to Leon on this occasion was 0.102s, as Brad Benavides went into the top three for AIX Racing.
The drivers had time for a couple more laps and the timesheets were being set alight as there were several personal best times being set.
Leon went quickest on a 1:25.502, but he was soon beaten by the other Campos of Mari Boya by 0.022s with Charlie Wurz in P3 for Trident, just 0.034s off provisional pole.
Tsolov was flying though, and he completed a 1:24.882 to take provisional pole. Wurz followed him across the line to go second, over half a second behind the Bulgarian.
But Boya was improving once again and set the fastest first sector of the session. However, the Spaniard just did not have enough to beat Tsolov, crossing the line to go P2, 0.127s off his teammate.
Leon’s late lap took him to P3 ahead of Wurz, with Tuukka Taponen in fifth for ART Grand Prix, as Martinius Stenshorne rounded out the top six for Hitech TGR.
With another 16 minutes on the clock, the second set of drivers went out on to the track with a 1:24.882 the time to beat.
Trident’s Rafael Camara set the early pace with a 1:25.635, 0.123s quicker than Voisin in second.
On the next set of laps, Voisin’s 1:25.359 was now the benchmark for the rest of the field to beat, and Bilinski made it a Rodin one-two by going to within 0.104s off his teammate’s time.
However, as the drivers set off on their next laps, PREMA’s Brando Badoer hit the barrier at Turn 1, bringing out the Red Flags.
Green flags were waved and the drivers had only just three minutes and 21 seconds to try and get their best time of the day in.
Bilinski was one of the few that could improve though. His 1:25.332 put him in P1, but it was not enough to beat Tsolov’s pole-sealing time, giving Campos their first FIA F3 pole since Spa-Francorchamps in 2023.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Tsolov, P2: Bilinski, P3: Boya, P4: Voisin, P5: Leon, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Wurz, P8: Camara, P9: Taponen and P10: van Hoepen.
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