Dino Beganovic’s Monegasque weekend got off to a very unlucky start in qualifying, but then a sixth and seventh place in the races limited the damage.
Monte Carlo, 26 May 2024 –Track position is everything in Monaco so if qualifying does not go well, a driver’s goals for the weekend take a serious knock and that’s what happened to Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student Dino Beganovic in the fourth round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship. The Swede clearly had the potential to do well, but he was caught up in what is a typical example of the bad luck that can catch you out on the streets of Monaco. On a quick lap in qualifying, he had to lift off the throttle just a few metres from the chequered flag because of an incident that brought out the red flag, ending the session prematurely, relegating him to sixth on the grid, thus affecting both the Feature and the Sprint races. “Ending the weekend with a sixth and seventh place is not what I wanted,” commented Dino. “We had great performance over the weekend and so it’s frustrating not to have been able to convert that into the results we deserved because of a red flag that came at the worst possible moment. We just have to settle for these points from a difficult weekend and focus on the next round in Barcelona. I can’t wait to get back on track as the positive to take away from here is that I have rediscovered a great feel for the car.” After the first eight races of the season, Beganovic is fourth in the championship on 58 points.
Sprint Race. The first race of the weekend followed the usual Monaco patter with high drama at the start followed by a long train of cars with no changes of position and appearances from the Safety Car. In fact the race had to be red flagged so that the track could be cleared of debris after a collision. Beganovic started seventh and that’s where he finished, although he clearly had pace, as proven by him setting the fastest lap of the race. “It was a positive race apart from the actual result as we had very good pace. We knew it would be practically impossible to make up places so we aimed to get the additional point for the fastest race lap and we managed it.”
Feature Race. Beganovic maintained sixth place off the grid, managing to keep out of trouble at the tricky first corner, Ste. Devote. The Safety Car came out immediately, resuming at the end of lap 2, with Dino sandwiched between Leonardo Fornaroli and Joseph Loake. The Safety Car made two further appearances because of incidents outside the top ten, so there were no changes of positions and, making no mistakes, Beganovich came home sixth.