Théophile Naël (Campos) confirms his excellent start to the Formula 3 season: after already securing pole position in the previous qualifying session in Australia, he repeated the feat in Monaco.
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The driver from Saint-Étienne set an impressive time of 1’24″471, a performance that allowed him to push his closest rival back by almost half a second.
In an exercise as demanding as Monaco qualifying, such a gap perfectly illustrates the mastery displayed by the Frenchman.
Two groups, few incidents
Second in Group B, Freddie Slater (Trident) could not do better than succumb to the pace set by Naël. On the starting grid, however, it is Brando Badoer (Rodin) who will share the front row with the Frenchman. Leader of Group A with a time of 1’24″612, the Italian did not manage to beat the absolute benchmark of the Campos driver.
The session took place without any major incident, a relatively rare occurrence in Monaco. The organization into two distinct groups of fifteen drivers largely contributed to fluidifying traffic and limiting the risk of collisions.
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The only real notable setback concerned Fionn McLaughlin (Hitech). The Red Bull Junior Team representative touched one of the Principality’s rails, compromising his performance and relegating him to 14th place in Group A.
Campos domination
Even the fastest, however, were not entirely spared by the Monaco walls. Naël, Slater and several other favorites flirted with the rails, or even slightly touched the barriers, during their best laps.
Behind the leaders, Campos confirms its excellent collective form. Naël’s teammate, the American Ugo Ugochukwu, will start from fourth position. Another satisfaction for the Spanish team is the fifth place of Ernesto Rivera. The Mexican Red Bull protégé makes a remarkable return after missing the start of the season following a back injury sustained during the winter.
With two pole positions in just two qualifying sessions this season, Théophile Naël confirms his status as the championship’s revelation. On a circuit where overtaking is often an exploit, the Frenchman now has an ideal opportunity to transform this new demonstration into a prestigious victory in the streets of Monaco.
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