Zendeli claims F3 pole at Mugello season finale

Lirim Zendeli will start the final Formula 3 feature race of the season from pole position at Mugello after seeing off title contender Logan Sargeant to top spot.

In a tightly contested qualifying session, Zendeli’s 1m35.328s was enough for the German to take his second pole of the season and the four extra championship points. 

Going into this weekend, Oscar Piastri leads the standings on 160 points, eight ahead of Sargeant.

Sargeant qualified in second but will drop three places after picking up a grid penalty following a collision with Prema teammate Frederik Vesti in the Monza sprint race, while Piastri could only manage 11th and will drop five places for also picking up a penalty for forcing Trident’s David Beckmann off the road and ultimately ending his race - again in the second Monza race.

This means Jake Hughes will line up on the front row of the grid alongside Zendeli.

Frederik Vesti qualified fourth but will move up a place thanks to Sargeant’s penalty, just ahead of Enzo Fittipaldi.

Sebastián Fernández and Théo Pourchaire were sixth and seventh fastest, with Pourchaire having an outside chance of the title as he’s currently third in the championship, 24 points off Piastri.

David Beckmann, Dennis Hauger and Aleksandr Smolyar completed the top ten, ahead of Piastri who will drop to 16th on the grid as he looks to secure the title this weekend. 

Jack Doohan was only 12th in the second HWA car ahead of Liam Lawson, who struggled throughout qualifying - running through the gravel trap in the closing stages.

Richard Verschoor and Alexander Peroni completed the top 15, 0.7s separating first to 15th.