Alpine Junior Driver Gabriele Mini set the benchmark time during a chaotic Formula 3 qualifying session in Monaco that saw a red flag end the Group B session.
After setting the fastest time of 1:23.942s in Group A’s qualifying, Mini secured a front-row start alongside Group B’s fastest driver Christian Mansell in second.
The qualifying session was split into two groups determined by even-numbered and odd-numbered cars, allowing alternating times in each group to fill the starting grid behind the fastest two drivers.
An aggregated result from both qualifying groups determined the grid order for both races this weekend, with the overall fastest driver starting the Feature race on pole and the fastest driver in the opposite group filling the second slot on the front row.
The sixth-fastest driver from the second group would secure the reverse pole position for the Sprint and the sixth-fastest driver in the faster group would secure second for the Sprint.
Group A was the first set of cars to hit the iconic circuit for a 16-minute session, consisting of cars with even numbers such as championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli and current runner-up Luke Browning.
Fornaroli was the first to begin a flying lap, hoping to beat out the predictably quicker Group B but backed out of the lap as Mini began to match his sector times.
In one of the shortest qualifying sessions of the season, Browning was the first driver to post purple sectors to set the fastest time early in the session.
The championship leader stole the fastest lap from Browning after smashing the first and last sectors, while Van Hoepen lost his top-five time for exceeding track limits at Turn 10.
Halfway through the first session, Browning set the new fastest time, 1.4 seconds clear of Fornaroli, while Mini placed his Prema in third before Mari Boya went quicker.
Goethe touched the wall towards the end of the session but managed to secure eighth as Mini threw his car around the corners to fall slightly short of Browning in first.
As track conditions began to improve, Boya was setting purple sectors in the Group A segment until he touched the wall at the Swimming Pool chicane part of the track.
Browning would also make a critical error at the same point, grazing the wall and abandoning his attempt, allowing Mini to snatch pole position with a 1:23.492s effort.
Sami Meguetounif was the first of the Group B drivers to hit the track but an early Red Flag was called after debutant James Hedley turned into the wall after an aggressive lockup at Turn 1.
Dragging Matias Zagazeta’s Jenzer Motorsport car to the pits, Hedley failed to set a time while drivers returned to the track to re-build their tyre temperatures.
Meguetounif set the initial fastest time before Dino Beganovic snatched the fastest position in Group B’s qualifying session.
ART Grand Prix driver Mansell put in a flying lap halfway through the session to fall two-tenths short of the session leader Beganovic setting a 1:25.078s.
Arvid Lindblad was the first driver to make it into the 1:24s time but Mansell set purple sectors across the lap to top the timesheets.
In the final three minutes of the session, Group B drivers searched for an extra second to top Mini’s qualifying lap.
A second red flag was called as Charlie Wurz lost the rear at Turn 1, causing Montoya to lose control and cause an early end to the session.
Beganovic was on a flying lap when the red flag was called, losing out to Mini and Mansell by half a second.
The Feature Race will start with Mini in pole position, followed by Group B leader Mansell.
Tsolov will start the Sprint Race in the reverse-grid pole position with Lindblad behind, but Beganovic falls to the third row for both races.
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