Prema Racing announced today that it is retaining the services of driver Dino Beganovic for an assault on the FIA Formula 3 World Championship in 2024.

A Ferrari Academy driver with ties with Prema that go back to 2020, Beganovic will be furthering his single-seater career with the squad that knows him best.

So far the Swede has competed with Prema in the 2020 Italian Formula 4 Championship, finishing third in the standings, as well as the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in 2021, a series in which he became champion in 2022.

This year, in his maiden F3 campaign, Beganovic secured four podium finishes en route to sixth place in the Drivers’ standings.

“We always enjoyed working with Dino,” said Prema Team Principal Rene Rosin.

“He is a quick and knowledgeable driver and works really well in our team’s environment.

“With the experience gained this year, he will make his challenge even more solid and by what we saw so far in testing, there is great promise for sure.

“We are very happy to continue the path we started together in 2020, and we look forward to seeing what the future will bring.”

Beganovic is delighted to continue his partnership with Prema, which will enter its fifth year in 2025.

“I’m super happy to confirm that I’m staying for another year with my team, PREMA Racing, in Formula 3,” he said.

It’s very nice to stay with the team as it will be our fifth year together.

“I cannot wait to continue the work we have done together throughout the years, starting from Formula 4.

“Our targets are clear and have been set high, but they are achievable.

“We will continue to focus on the testing sessions to prepare as much as possible for the first race next year.”

The 10-round 2024 F3 calendar commences in Bahrain on February 29 – March 2.

Formula 3 champion Gabriel Bortoleto says the input of manager and mentor Fernando Alonso was influential in him emerging as this year’s title-winner.

Bortoleto, 18, wrapped up the Formula 3 title during Friday’s qualifying session at Monza on Friday, when his nearest opponents failed to take the points on offer for pole position.

Bortoleto is part of the A14 Management scheme run by two-time champion Alonso and 2023 was his first full season under its guidance.

Consistency was a major part of Bortoleto’s title-winning campaign, with the Brazilian taking only two wins – at the opening pair of events in Bahrain and Australia – but failing to score in just three of the 18 races.  

“Fernando is a Formula 1 legend and not only in Formula 1 – he has driven in a lot of categories and won in all of them,” said Bortoleto of the Aston Martin racer.

“He’s not just my manager but also an idol for me because since I was very young, Fernando has been the guy who was winning races in my dream category which is Formula 1.”

Bortoleto explained that he remained in regular communication with Alonso through 2023, the lessons from which he applied into his racecraft.

“Now having him as my manager and giving me some tips, especially before Bahrain and Melbourne, even Monaco, it was something very special to me,” said Bortoleto.

“For sure, he has been a big part of what I’ve done this season.

“I was leading the championship after Melbourne and I’d won my second Feature Race in a row, I remember he sent me a voice message of almost 10 minutes on WhatsApp.

“He told me a lot of great stuff, but he kept in my mind that I could have won other races in the year and the moment that I started to struggle because at some point probably I would struggle in the season or not be winning, but in the top five.

“I needed to accept that and get the points that I needed and I think that was my mindset the whole season because it came directly from him and when a guy like Fernando tells you something, I think you better listen! So I think it was very special.”

MP Motorsport driver Jonny Edgar has took his first Formula 3 victory of his career in a chaotic, Safety Car riddled finale in Monza that saw Prema crowned as the team champions and an all-British podium at the end of it.

Polesitter Oliver Goethe complained of throttle issues as the grid formed for the start, as the Trident driver pulled off the grid towards the pit lane, resulted into an aborted start.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Caio Collet lead the field away for the second formation lap, which also saw the ART of Kaylen Frederik stall on the grid, and getting wheeled into the pit lane.

Once the start did get underway, Collet got away cleanly as third place driver Paul Aron was put under pressure and overtaken by MP’s Jonny Edgar and newly crowned champion Gabriel Bortoleto flew past the Estonian’s Prema as well, launching himself onto the podium.

Yesterday’s Sprint race winner Franco Colapinto found himself stationary on the track after lap one contact leading to suspension damage, ending the MP driver’s hopes of retaining second in the championship and bringing out the Safety Car.

Collet lead the field away again on the fourth lap, as behind him, it was the Trident cars of Bortoleto and Leonardo Fornaroli versus the Prema cars of Aron and Zak O’Sullivan as the teams fought for the Team Championship as well as second in the Driver Championship for Aron and O’Sullivan.

As DRS was enabled, racing became even more frantic, with both Aron and Bortoleto making mistakes and allowing O’Sullivan to jump the pair, launching the British driver into the podium positions, while Bortoleto

Edgar managed to get past Collet right as the Safety Car came out when ART’s Gregoire Saucy found the wall in the first Lesmo as the result of a puncture on his left rear tyre.

Once again, the field was lead away after a Safety Car restart, with Edgar making the late jump and holding onto the lead against Collet and Aron went wide, dropping all the way out of the points, giving O’Sullivan the upper hand for second place in the championship.

Bortoleto was once again on a charge, passing Nikola Tsolov, while his teammate Fornaroli seemed to briefly lose power, dropping the Trident down the order once again while a bit further up, a fight between O’Sullivan and Jenzer’s Taylor Barnard was forming, with the Jenzer driver winning that round.

It was a constant change of lead at the front between Edgar and Collet, with Barnard, O’Sullivan, and Bortoleto hot on their heels as a third Safety Car of the day appeared when Sebastian Montoya found himself stranded in the gravel at turn 5.

Edgar lead away on the third Safety Car restart, repeating his previous restart as it was still all to play for at the front.

O’Sullivan proved himself alert and jumped both Barnard and Collet, as well as challenging Edgar for the lead of the race but going wide.

It was once again the Safety Car at the top of the field, as Pepe Martí and Ido Cohen went off together, adding the total of retired cars to eight.

The next car to add to that total was the PHM by Roberto Faria, who pulled over at the pit lane exit while still under the Safety Car.

It was a one-lap shootout that would decide the race, as Edgar lead the field away one last time.

The MP driver got away well as O’Sullivan fought Collet for the second podium position but it was Barnard who jumped the Brazilian driver into third.

Edgar’s getaway allowed him to win ahead of O’Sullivan, who also got himself into second place in the championship, with the duo joined by Barnard for an all-British podium.

The top ten was completed by Collet, Bortoleto, Mari Boya, Aron, Christian Mansell, Dino Beganovic, and Rafael Villagomez.

Aron’s seventh place finish was enough to hold onto third in the championship, staying ahead of both Colapinto and Martí, both of whom failed to finish the race, while Beganovic in sixth managed to stay ahead of Mini in seventh.

Goethe, Collet, and Barnard complete the top ten in the championship.

Franco Colapinto won the Formula 3 Sprint Race at Monza to become the joint record winner in the category with four victories.

The MP Motorsport driver saw off challenges from the likes of his teammate Mari Boya and 2023 champion Gabriel Bortoleto in a race that saw multiple changes for the lead.

With the championship decided in qualifying and thus the pressure well and truly off new F3 title holder Bortoleto, attention turned to who would race hardest for the Sprint win on Saturday morning at Monza.

Several drivers had their races affected before the action even got underway, with the Hitech and Pulse-Eight squads having all their drivers relegated to the back of the grid for a parc ferme infringement.

There was chaos from the start as MP Motorsport’s Boya took the holeshot, but Paul Aron spun at the opening chicane as a rear puncture rendered his Prema car uncontrollable and he collected Johny Edgar in the process of spinning out.

Josep Maria Marti then went off at Lesmo 1 and his race ended in the gravel trap thanks to damage to the front left suspension sustained in the opening chicane drama, prompting a Safety Car on Lap 1.

Caio Collet was also caught up in messy F3 action and was the culprit behind Aron’s Turn 1 puncture, which landed him a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision.

Collet pitted under the Safety Car for a new wing, rejoining at the back of the pack.

As the field toured around the Monza circuit under caution, Boya led an MP 1-2, with his teammate Colapinto lining up in second.

The Safety Car came to an end at the end of Lap 4 to allow racing to resume and Boya coasted the field all the way back to the start/finish straight before pulling the pin and getting the pack back up to racing speeds.

Boya and Colapinto held firm in first and second, whilst the pack behind jostled for position.

As DRS was enabled on Lap 7, the top five of Boya, Colapinto, Gregoire Saucy, Zak O’Sullivan and Taylor Barnard tightened up and broke away from the rest of the field.

This prompted Christian Mansell and Bortoleto to jump Nikola Tsolov and give chase, with Bortoleto passing Mansell to take sixth shortly after.

Bortoleto was able to bridge the gap to the top five, whilst his Trident teammate Oliver Goethe had managed to climb to eighth from 28th on the gird.

Colapinto took his place at the front of the pack y passing teammate Boya at the start of Lap 10 and O’Sullivan went to make a move on Saucy, but the pair touched exiting the opening chicane and Saucy received a puncture and dropped down the order as a result.

Amid the kerfuffle, Bortoleto took third and Goethe continued his ascension to sit sixth.

Boya retook the lead at the start of Lap 12 as Bortoleto shot down calls over team radio to manage his tyres, but a lap later Colapinto retook the lead again going into Turn 1 as the fight for the lead grew to a train of nine cars.

Turn 1 was the corner of choice for making moves and that was proved once again on Lap 14 as Barnard passed O’Sullivan for fourth, with the fight between the pair carrying on for a few more corners.

Colapinto meanwhile was trying to break free from the DRS range of the pack behind, stretching his lead to eight-tenths over Boya at the start of Lap 15.

Goethe’s charge was halted at the start of Lap 15 as he went in to hot at Turn 1, having to take to the escape road as a result and losing ground on the top five in the process.

As the field came round for the final lap, Colapinto led from Boya, Bortoleto, Barnard and O’Sullivan, who was handed a 10-second time penalty for instigating the earlier collision with Saucy.

Borotoleto challenged Boya for second at Turn 1 but was unable to make a move, took to the grass around the outside of Turn 3 before completing the pass for second at next chicane.

This created a buffer for leader Colapinto and he held on to take a record-equalling fourth win in F3.

Bortoleto held onto second place ahead of Boya in third, with Luke Browning completing the top five after starting 27th.

In sixth was Leonardo Fornaroli, ahead of Goethe in seventh.

Gabriele Mini took eighth with Mansell and Tsolov completing the top-10.

Victory for Colapinto sees him take second in the championship (110 points) with one race remaining, four points ahead of Aron (106 points).

The Formula 3 season concludes with tomorrow’s Feature Race at 08:15 local time (07:15 BST).

Formula 3 qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix was riddled with red flags, with Trident’s Oliver Goethe fastest. But it was his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto who was the star, as his direct rivals failed to take pole and the two points that come with it, making the Brazilian the 2023 Formula 3 Champion in a shortened session that ended in the pit lane.

Ahead of the qualifying session, championship leader Bortoleto lead Prema’s Paul Aron by 38 points, with new Red Bull junior driver Pepe Martí trailing only a point behind in third, meaning the Brazilian driver could already unofficially take the title after the session.

It was a slow start of the session, as the drivers played a waiting game in the pit lane, as nobody wanted to lead the pack away.

Ahead of the session, the Jenzer team announced that Nikita Bedrin would not be partaking in the qualifying session after an issue during the free practice session.

Early problems ensued after the cars were finally out of the pitlane and Carlin’s Ido Cohen dipped a wheel onto the grass, leading to a spin for the Israeli driver and a red flag.

Following a brief red flag, the games were over and teams decided to send out their drivers straight away, trying to get ahead of any other possible stoppages.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Caio Collet made it to provisional pole after the first stint, pipping Aron, before Joshua Dufek, who is making his F3 debut this weekend, spun into the gravel, bringing out the next red flag to remove the stricken Campos.

Following the red flag, Trident sent out their drivers Bortoleto and Oliver Goethe, with Bortoleto jumping up to fifth and Goethe taking over provisional pole position before crashing, finding the barrier in the second Lesmo and bringing out the third red flag of the session with just over ten minutes left on the clock.

Eventually, the call came from race control to not resume the session.

This meant that either Aron or Martí failed to score, making Bortoleto the 2023 driver’s champion as the championship was once again decided in the pit lane.

Goethe set the fastest time but will have to serve a ten-place grid penalty, Collet and Aron complete the top three, followed by Jonny Edgar, Bortoleto, Gabriele Mini, Zak O’Sullivan, Leonardo Fornaroli, Luke Browning, and Taylor Barnard. Gregoire Saucy will start tomorrow’s Sprint Race from reverse pole.

The FIA Formula 3 World Championship unveiled its 10-round 2024 calendar on Friday.

20 races across 10 venues and three continents will see the stars of tomorrow race as part of the Formula 1 support package.

The calendar for 2024 is a near-carbon copy of this year’s calendar, with the precise dates proving to be the only alteration.

30 drivers, representing a total of 10 teams will get their 2024 season underway in Bahrain on 29 February-2 March.

The second round will be a second visit to Albert Park in Melbourne, Australia on the 22-24 March, following the venue’s F3 debut in 2023.

F3 will then head from Australia to Italy for round four of the 2024 championship at the iconic Imola circuit on 17-19 May.

Imola was due to host F3 alongside the rest of the Grand Prix support package in 2023 until the Emilia-Romagna region was tragically affected by flooding.

In 2024, Imola will be followed by Monte-Carlo on the F3 calendar, with the world-renowned street circuit making its sophomore appearance in the series on 23-26 May.

F3 will then head into a European triple-header, beginning with Barcelona (21-23 June), followed by Spielberg (28-30 June) and Silverstone (5-7 July).

Rounds eight and nine of the 2024 F3 season will run back-to-back, with Budapest hosting the series on 19-21 July, followed by Spa-Francorchamps on 26-28 July.

There will then be a summer break hiatus before the tenth and final round sees F3 conclude its 2024 campaign at Monza, on 30 August-1 September.

F1 President and CEO, Stefano Domenicali said; “We are all excited to announce the 2024 Formula 3 calendar that brings huge anticipation and excitement after an already thrilling season this year.”

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem stated that the calendar for next season’s F3 championship will provide a solid foundation for those competing.

“The calendar that we are very pleased to confirm today provides a broad range of circuits, including some of the most challenging and iconic racing venues anywhere in the world, on which the potential stars of the future will give the drivers the best possible preparation for the next step up the ladder to the FIA Formula 2 Championship,” he said.

F3 CEO Bruno Michel spoke of Albert Park and Monte-Carlo returning to the calendar, after a successful debut this year.

“In 2023, we introduced two new circuits – Melbourne and Monte Carlo – which held extremely successful events for Formula 3,” he said.

“I am very pleased to include them again in the 2024 calendar.”

Michel also talked up the growth of F3 as a whole, stating that; “In a matter of five years, the FIA Formula Championship 3 has become a decisive category that features the best up-and-coming talents on their way to the top steps of motorsport.”

You can see the 2024 F3 calendar in full, below.

Taylor Barnard goes from 10th to maiden victory in the F3 Feature Race in Belgium, but Gabriel Bortoleto will have to wait to secure the tile.

Barnard mastered mixed conditions on the Spa-Francorchamps circuit and survived a late challenge from runner-up Chrisitan Mansell, who climbed a remarkable 21 places up the order.

The start of the 15-lap Feature was temporarily halted due to inclement weather, with several portions of the Spa circuit being affected by rain.

A rolling start procedure saw pole-sitter Josep Maria Marti lead the field to green, but he quickly fell down the order, struggling for grip on slick tyres, as Paul Aron rapidly ascended to assume an early lead, having made the correct call to start on wet tyres.

Barnard was also amongst the wet runners charging through to the front early on, with all those on slicks shuffling down the pack as conditions clearly weren’t set for dry tyres, as evidenced by pole-sitter Marti falling to 11th by the second lap.

Mansell had already climbed 20 places up the order to third place by Lap 4, shortly before the Safety Car was called out following Oliver Goethe going backwards into the wall at Eau Rouge.

Goethe walked away from the incident unscathed, but the Safety Car turned the race on its head as then race leader Aron and several other wet runners opted to pit for slick tyres, as the circuit slowly started to dry.

This left Barnard out in the lead, ahead of Mansell and fellow wet tyre runners Nikita Bedrin, Alejandro Garcia, Sebastian Montoya and Sophia Floersch.

Championship leader Bortoleto struggled early on and was in 20th at the Safety Car restart at the end of Lap 7, having had to surrender two places to Ido Cohen and Jonny Edgar after being deemed to have made illegal passes at the rolling start at the beginning of the race.

At the front of the pack, Barnard and Mansell cruised off ahead for a two-way battle for the lead, as cool temperatures meant it took too long for those on dry tyres further back to get up to speed.

Mansell made a number of attempts at taking the lead from Barnard, at one point going straight on at Les Combes, before making a successful pass on Lap 13.

But shortly after Mansell assumed the lead, Barnard retook it and maintained his advantage through to the chequered flag, for his first-ever triumph in F3 and his team Jenzer Motorsport’s first win since 2019.

Behind Barnard and Mansell was third-placed Bedrin, ahead of Garcia and Montoya in fourth and fifth.

Floersch came home in sixth to become the first female driver to score points in F3, ahead of Caio Collet and Aron in seventh and eighth, the pair of them getting up to speed on their dry tyres too late to climb further up the order.

Pole-sitter Marti came home in ninth and Franco Colapinto rounded out the top 10.

Championship leader Bortoleto will have to wait until the season finale in Monza to take the title after his late charge on dry tyres to 11th place left him one point shy of claiming the title on Sunday.

The FIA has decided to reinstate points for yesterday’s Formula 3 Sprint race, after originally declaring no points were to be awarded for Saturday’s event, as well as handing out a number of post-race penalties.

The original no-points ruling was made due to the lack of Green Flag running, amid three Safety Car periods in the 12-lap race.

The first Safety Car caution came about at the end of the first lap after Sebastian Montoya got tagged by Rafael Villagomez.

It wasn’t long after the Safety Car came in at the end of lap three that it was called out again as championship protagonist Josep Maria Marti and Gabrielle Mini came together at Turn 10, causing them both to spin out, before Marti subsequently collected Ido Cohen when rejoining the circuit.

However, officials have deemed Mini culpable for the incident and he has received a five-place grid penalty for today’s Feature Race as a result.

Gabriel Bortoleto’s lap nine retirement brought out the third and final Safety Car.

The decision to reinstate the points means race-winner Caio Collet receives 11 points for his victory and for setting the fastest lap of the race.

The top 10 were all awarded the full allocation of Sprint Race points, which changes the championship picture.

The third-place finisher in the Sprint, Paul Aron now moves up to second in the standings on 102 points, tied with Marti and ahead of teammate Zak O’Sullivan on 100 points, who was demoted from fourth to 15th in the race order after being handed a five-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.

Another post-race penalty was handed out to Dino Beganovic, with the Prema driver handed a 10-second time penalty after being deemed responsible for the contact that led to Bortoleto’s retirement.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Tommy Smith has also been awarded a 10-second time penalty, for causing a collision that sent Oliver Goethe out of the Sprint Race at the second Safety Car restart.

After the points being reinstated, coupled with the post-race penalties, Bortoleto is still the championship leader with 144 points and he needs just a 39-point advantage to secure the title at the end of today’s Feature Race.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Caio Collet sealed victory and the fastest lap in the F3 Sprint Race at Spa-Francorchamps, as championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto suffered his first DNF of the season.

Collet was followed home by maiden podium-sitter Taylor Barnard and third-placed Paul Aron in an eventful 12-lap race that finished under the Safety Car.

The final Safety Car period was the third of the short race and given the lack of laps under green, race officials declared that no points were to be awarded for the race.

The biggest winner of the no-points ruling was Bortoleto, the championship leader started outside the top-10 for the first time all season and his day got worse after contact to the rear from Dino Beganovic at Turn 1 led to him pulling out on the Kemmel Straight for his first retirement of the season on Lap 9.

But the no-points nature of the Sprint means his sizeable 42-point championship lead remains intact.

Hoping to gain from Bortoleto’s retirement was Zak O’Sullivan, winner in the Hungary Feature Race last time out.

O’Sullivan climbed through from seventh at the start to fourth via a series of daring moves at each Safety Car restart.

The first Safety Car came out on the opening lap, thanks to Sebastian Montoya getting tagged by Rafael Villagomez.

Prior to the Safety Car’s release, Collet, Barnard and Aron had climbed up to the top three as reverse pole-sitter Hugh Barter tumbled down the order.

The Safety Car came in at the end of lap three, but shortly afterwards would be called to action once more as a dramatic title twist came to pass.

Fastest in qualifying and looking to close in on series leader Bortoleto, Josep Maria Marti made an ambitious move on Gabrielle Mini at Turn 10, causing them both to spin out.

Marti then collected Ido Cohen with a clumsy attempt at rejoining the circuit.

The second Safety Car period ended at the start of Lap 8, but green flag racing came to an end following Bortoleto’s aforementioned retirement.

Collet delightfully took the chequered flag behind the Safety Car, ahead of Barnard, Aron and O’Sullivan.

Jonny Edgar finished in fifth, ahead of Franco Colapinto and pole-sitter Barter in sixth and seventh.

Nikola Tsolov finished in eighth place, with Beganovic and Luke Browning completing the top-10.

The lack of racing laps means the drivers’ standings remain the same as they did before the Sprint Race got underway.

Bortoleto leads with 144 points, ahead of Marti with 102 and O’Sullivan with 101 points.

Bortoleto needs just a 39-point margin at the end of tomorrow’s Feature Race to be declared F3 champion.

Zak O’Sullivan took his fourth win of the 2023 Formula 3 season after dominating the Feature Race in Budapest.

Taking the start from pole position, O’Sullivan chopped across the track to cover off PREMA Racing team-mate Dino Beganovic.

O’Sullivan successfully held onto the lead on the opening lap and from there was unchallenged, slowly increasing the gap across the 19 laps of racing.

It was the Williams junior driver’s first points score since the Feature Race at the Red Bull Ring – an event where he also took victory.

Although he was unable to keep up with his team-mate, Beganovic wasn’t troubled in second place to secure another 18 points in the standings.

Taking the final spot on the podium was Franco Colapinto, who made an overtake on Leonardo Fornaroli midway through the race for the final spot on the rostrum.

One year on from his debut in the FIA F3 championship, Oliver Goethe was fourth ahead of the third PREMA Racing car of Paul Aron.

Aron came under pressure late on from Pepe Marti, who progressed strongly throughout the race, climbing from P13 on the grid to sixth at the chequered flag.

Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto ensured that he still holds a sizeable lead at the head of the standings, securing his 13th point-scoring result in a row.

Jonny Edgar was eighth, while Fornaroli crossed the line in ninth place after descending down the order in the closing stages.

Mari Boya for MP Motorsport picked up the final point on offer.

F3 will return next weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, where Bortoleto will have his first chance to seal the 2023 title.