After finishing runner-up in the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) and impressing during the 2023 Formula 3 post-season testing sessions, Martinius Stenshorne made the jump to F3 for the 2024 season.
When announcing their partnership with the Norwegian racing driver, Hitech Pulse-Eight F3 Team Manager Paul Bellringer stated that he expected the team and driver to enjoy a successful 2024 campaign, noting the driver’s show of “great potential” during the testing in Jerez.
“We are delighted to add Martinius to our Formula 3 line-up for 2024. He showed great potential during testing and given his race-winning form in FRECA this year, we are confident that we will have an exciting and successful season together.”
Unfortunately, though Stenshorne would enjoy some success with the British team, his season would ultimately be an unimpressive one. Despite claiming a win and another podium finish, the Norwegian driver struggled for points. He ended the season a disappointing 18th in the drivers’ championship standings, ahead of teammate Cian Shields but 15 places behind his other teammate Luke Browning, who finished third.
First win in Melbourne
Stenshorne did not have an ideal start to his debut F3 season. Despite a strong effort, the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver qualified 22nd with a time that was more than a second slower than the top time set by Prema Racing’s Dino Beganovic. Despite this, the driver put in strong performances in both the sprint and feature races, finishing P11 and P14 respectively. While this was not enough to earn him his first points of the season, it was an indicator of his potential for success in the series.
He would experience the first taste of this success a few weeks later in Australia. After qualifying 11th in the 2024 Melbourne F3 round, Stenshone earned himself a sprint race start from P2 under reverse grid conditions.
Stenshorne got a good start off the line, and put in a strong defensive drive against ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen who started on pole. Though Stenshorne and van Hoepen engaged in a fierce battle which saw them exchanging the lead multiple times in the early laps, Stenshorne eventually came out on top. He then defended well against Prema Racing’s Arvid Lindblad to claim his maiden F3 victory. This saw Stenshorne claim his first ten points of the season.
Unfortunately, he could not enjoy similar success in the next day’s feature race. He suffered a puncture on Lap 16, and though he was able to continue after pitting for new tyres, he found himself knocked to the back of the field. Despite making his way past Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel León and Trident’s Santiago Ramos, Stenshorne was unable to keep his position. He finished the race P26, at the back of the pack, after being handed a time penalty for causing a collision earlier in the race.
Return to points in Spain
Unfortunately, Stenshorne would not add points to his championship tally until the 2024 Barcelona F3 round almost three months later. He suffered disappointing P22 and P14 finishes in the sprint and feature races in Imola, and then P16 and P26 finishes in Monte Carlo.
The 2024 Barcelona F3 round got off to a good start for the Hitech Pulse-Eight driver. Despite a competitive session, he qualified seventh, earning himself a start from P6 in Saturday’s sprint race. Stenshorne gave an excellent drive in the sprint race, securing fourth place after an impressive overtake on van Hoepens in Lap 10. Though he would be able to make it onto the podium, he did finish fourth, claiming seven points.
Unfortunately, though he would put in a similarly impressive performance in Sunday’s feature race, he suffered a front-right puncture while battling van Hoepen for seventh. This saw him drop to the back of the field and he crossed the line 27th. His rival, van Hoepen, on the other hand, was unable to finish the race but was classified 29th as he had completed over 90 percent of the race distance.
P2 in Austria
Despite the disappointing end to his Spanish Grand Prix weekend, Stenshorne was undeterred. However, though the start to his 2024 Spielberg F3 round was far from terrible, it was also far from ideal. Despite his best efforts, Stenshorne qualified 12th. This, of course, allowed him a start from pole position under the sprint race reverse-grid conditions.
While Stenshorne put in a strong performance and drove defensively against the likes of ART Grand Prix’s Christian Mansell, he could not outpace Mansell’s teammate Nikola Tsolov. Tsolov claimed his second win of the 2024 F3 season, with Stenshorne finishing 0.673 seconds behind to claim P2. This was the Norwegian’s second appearance on the podium and, as it would turn out, his last of the season.
Unfortunately, Stenshorne could not add to his points tally in the feature race. He finished P12 after starting P12. This, unfortunately, would make the first of a spate of races that Stenshorne would finish without points.
Absence from Silverstone
The Norwegian driver did not have the chance to fight for points in Silverstone after falling foul of Article 10.4 of the sporting regulations which prohibits the participation of drivers in external events not explicitly approved by the FIA and the promoter. Stenshorne was found to have breached this article with his participation in the GB3 championship’s Silverstone round in April 2024. The stewards deemed this to have given him an unfair sporting advantage and suspended him for the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Silverstone Event. Four penalty points were also added to the driver’s record.
Hitech Pulse-Eight opted to replace Stenshorne with FRECA driver James Wharton. Wharton, unfortunately, struggled during the weekend, and after qualifying 27th, he finished the sprint and feature races outside the points in P18 and P21 respectively.
A strong end to the season
Though he would compete in Hungary and Spa-Francorchamps, Stenshorne would fail to finish in the points. This, however, was not the case for the 2024 Monza F3 round. Despite starting the sprint race from P13, Stenshorne put in a strong drive to cross the line 11th. However, he was promoted to 10th, and subsequently awarded his first point since Austria, after Campos Racing’s Sebastián Montoya was handed a five-second time penalty for forcing another driver off the track. This penalty saw Montoya, who had finished second, drop to 11th.
Following this success, the Norwegian rounded out his 2024 F3 season with a P5 finish in the sprint race. As he also set the fastest lap time of the race, he added a final 11 points to his tally. He ended the season 18th in the standings with 38 points.
Stenshorne to race with Hitech TGR in 2025
Despite his less-than-impressive 2024 campaign, Stenshore will have another chance to fight for the F3 title. In October 2024, Hitech Pulse-Eight announced that they would retain Stenshorne for the 2025 season, with Team Manager Paul Bellringer stating that the Norwegian has shown his obvious potential in 2024.
“I’m delighted to confirm that Martinius will continue with us for the 2025 campaign. In only his first year on the international stage – one of the most competitive seasons F3 has ever seen – he punctuated his obvious potential with a win in the second round, a podium, and he was regularly in the fight for points.”
Bellringer added that he was confident that Stenshorne would “make his mark” in his second F3 season, noting that the driver had progressed well despite the “tight” field.
“When the field is as tight as it was last season, it can be difficult for strong performances to translate to the standings, but within the team, Martinius’ progress was clear for all to see and I feel confident that he will really make his mark in a second season of F3.”
