R01 Bahrain - FIA Formula 3 Qualifying Report
PREMA Racing delivered the first pole position of the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Championship today at Bahrain International Circuit as Dino Beganovic put together a stellar late flying lap to secure P1 at the end of qualifying.
While the Swede maximized the session to clinch his first pole in the series, the whole team performed at a high level. Rebounding from a brake issue in Free Practice, Gabriele Minì finished the session in third place with a smooth run, improving from one set of tyres to another, which lays promise for the rest of the weekend.
Making his F3 debut, Arvid Lindblad placed himself in the top-10 as he continued to make progress. He will have time to gain even more opportunities in Race 2 starting from the second row on the grid.
#1 DINO BEGANOVIC
"It feels amazing to be on pole here in Bahrain. It is the first one for PREMA in F3 so even greater. The whole session was really good, a bit chaotic, but we put everything together when it counted and that’s what matters. The feeling is really good and it’s a great way to start the season. We look forward to the next two days."
#2 GABRIELE MINÌ
"It was a good qualifying session. We made the first run on new tyres and it wasn’t bad, we only struggled a bit in sector 1, everything else was fine including the feeling with the car. Maybe something to fix in terms of the balancem, but that was it. Then in the second run, the car felt better compared to the first one, we did a good lap just maybe a little under the limit in some corners but I think being in the top three was what we wanted so I’m quite happy with that."
#3 ARVID LINDBLAD
"Decent first qualifying, obviously first weekend for me, I didn’t know what to expect and I knew it was gonna be challenging. It’s a completely different format to what I am used in F4, but I think from my experience in the car and experience in the driving I don’t think it was bad. One tenth, and we would have been in the top-4, so a bit disappointing from that side, but I think I did a decent job especially for a first weekend. We got something to build on in the next two races trying top learn as much as I can for the season ahead, huge thanks to the whole team."