MP Motorsport 2024 Review: Improving to the end

23 September 2024

It wasn’t the ideal season for MP Motorsport according to Team Principal Sander Dorsman. The Dutch outfit did enjoy several podium finishes and a win across the 2024 campaign, but there was a feeling of what could’ve been as the chequered flag fell in Monza.

Still, Dorsman says that while the podiums and wins didn’t come as regularly as hoped for, there was a clear upward trend for them throughout the campaign, as their three rookies learned more and more.

“It wasn’t as good as 2023 to be honest. We had quite a good season last year, but 2024 was a bit trickier for us, especially at the start,” he explained.

“We understood it was not super easy that we’d have three rookies, although they were all talented, but in such a high-level Championship such as F3, experience counts.

“That’s especially true when you start with some tracks that the drivers don’t know, like Bahrain, Melbourne or Monaco. It’s a bit difficult at the start of the season if you’re new in the Championship and you need to learn those tracks.

“But, as you see more often with these talented rookies, around halfway through the season they start to pick it up more and more and, in the end, it was pretty good actually.”

Polish driver Kacper Sztuka arrived in F3 as the reigning Italian F4 Champion from 2023 but life in the Championship proved a stern test.

Sztuka was unfortunate to be involved in others' incidents says Dorsman

He was unfortunate according to Dorsman, who noted that a lot of incidents went against him that disguised what he was truly capable of.

“Coming from F4, it’s a massive step up to F3. He’s a super nice and smart kid, nice to work with. We felt a bit sorry for him in that he seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time which also didn’t really help him in the end.

“For example, Qualifying in Monza, it was things like that. Then that defines your whole weekend and while in the races he’d have quite good pace, I think the potential was much more than what he actually showed. But it is what it is.”

Teammate Alex Dunne was able to achieve two podiums in 2024 but was hampered by several incidents that took more points-finishes away from him.

Dorsman says that it took away from his potential, as the speed the Irish driver showed throughout 2024 was impressive, as things came together for him at Monza.

“I think from the first moment, he was really on the pace and showed great potential. Perhaps in the mid-season we were involved in a couple of incidents that cost us a good result, but in the end, he showed great pace and he’s a super-rapid driver.

Dorsman was pleased that all three continued to improve race-by-race

“It’s also important to keep your nose clean and get those results in. Unfortunately, we had a couple of instances where that wasn’t the case, but at least the pace was always there.

“I think already in the Qualifying performances, after the summer, they were great. For Alex, he’d never been to Spa and Monza, so his performances were good.

“In F3, Qualifying is super important, and you just need to make sure you’re always top 12 to be able to score some solid points across the weekend. But we saw, especially in the second half of the season, improvement from both Alex and Tim in Qualifying, and that immediately makes it a much different weekend.”

Finally, Tim Tramnitz was the other rookie at the wheel for MP in 2024 and enjoyed an early run of podiums across the opening few rounds.

A slump in the middle of the season for the team meant that run came to an end, but after a tough Silverstone round, Dorsman says the whole team rebounded, and Tramnitz was again impressive in the closing stages of the season, capping things off by winning the Monza Sprint Race.

“Tim’s a very clever driver, really uses his brain and keeps his nose clean. He’s a very smart kid, and very talented. I think mid-season around Silverstone, we had a period where it didn’t really work out for us, but after that we analysed things and bounced back quite strongly for the last three races.

Tramnitz earned several podium results and capped off 2024 with Monza Sprint victory

“I think he showed great potential, and we had moments where we had to learn and improve but we formed a good team, and I think he can be very happy with his rookie season in Formula 3.”

That race weekend was the high point for the MP Team Principal, who says it showed the team’s true performance level as they achieved four top six finishes, including Sprint victory and P3 with Dunne.

“Monza was a very good weekend for us. Very strong pace, it’s always nice to see the improvements that the driver’s have made throughout the season. To see where you started and where you finished, that was probably the highlight of the year.

“They were strong Qualifying performances and strong races, so we were very happy with that particular weekend.”