F3: Tsolov comes out on top to take maiden pole position in Monte Carlo

Nikola Tsolov took his first-ever FIA Formula 3 pole position around the streets of Monte Carlo, coming out on top in Friday’s dramatic split Qualifying.

The Red Bull Junior posted a 1m 24.882s with his final lap of the session to go to the top of the timesheets in Group A, leading his Campos Racing team mate Mari Boya by 0.127s.

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Rodin Motorsport then locked out the top two spots in Group B, with Roman Bilinski leading the way in the red flag-affected running thanks to a 1m 25.332s, while his team mate Callum Voisin wound up 0.027s off in P2.

This meant Tsolov – who had been watching from the pit wall with his Campos team – had done enough to seal the Aramco Pole Position Award, with Bilinski set to join him on the front row for Sunday, ahead of Boya and Voisin.

PREMA Racing’s Brando Badoer brought out the lone red flag in the session after crashing into the barrier at Turn 1 late in Group B’s running.

Once the action resumed with three minutes and 21 seconds left, only Tim Tramnitz could complete two flying laps. The MP Motorsport driver’s lap was good enough for P3, putting him in sixth for the Feature Race behind PREMA Racing’s Noel León – who was third-fastest in Group A.

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TRIDENT’s Charlie Wurz and ART Grand Prix driver Tuukka Taponen were fourth and fifth in Group A, while Rafael Câmara and Laurens van Hoepen sealed the same positions in Group B.

Next up is a Sprint Race around the Principality, where the grid will be reversed, with this taking place at 1045 local time on Saturday. Alessandro Giusti and Martinius Stenshorne are set to line up on the front row after finishing sixth-fastest in their groups, with the former on pole.

Until then, you can read a full and in-depth report of the FIA Formula 3 Qualifying session in Monaco on the official website here.