FIA Formula 3 2025 Season Review – Crowning our Champions

Racing action prior to the summer break and Round 9 at the Hungaroring presented Rafael Câmara with his first Championship-sealing chance.

The Brazilian would duly take it of course, but he was made to fight for it as his rivals gave one final defiant showing to try and take the battle to the finale in Monza.

Round 9 – Budapest

For the fifth time in 2025, Câmara was the driver to beat on Friday, earning a record-breaking pole by just 0.008s over title rival Mari Boya in P2. Tuukka Taponen made it third on the grid for ART Grand Prix.

On Sprint Race Saturday, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak went from reverse grid pole, leading the pack while Ugo Ugochukwu looked to make quick progress from sixth. He was up to fourth by Lap 5 and third by Lap 7.

The American driver’s charge continued as he took advantage of a wide moment from James Hedley to move up to second. He then closed to within DRS range of race leader Inthraphuvasak, and a late Safety Car brought the gap down further, but timing meant there was time for just one final lap.

The Thai driver held firm in front, resisting the charge of Ugochukwu to claim his second Sprint win of the year, as Charlie Wurz completed the podium in third for TRIDENT.

Sunday’s Feature Race took place in wet conditions and began with a rolling start. Câmara and Boya quickly established a pace nobody else could keep up with, gapping the pack early on and setting up their fight for the win.

The pair were five seconds clear of the pack by Lap 4, as Boya applied the pressure and not allowing the TRIDENT an easy drive to victory and the title.

Two Safety Car periods reset the pack and the gaps, but the duo were flying once racing got back underway on Lap 11. Nikola Tsolov meanwhile was making up for a disappointing Qualifying effort and surging through the order, climbing up from 21st to sixth with 10 laps to go.

Out in front though and despite race-long pressure, Câmara claimed win number four and the 2025 Drivers’ Championship title. Boya finished P2 with Taponen holding onto third by less than a second over Wurz.

Round 10 – Monza

While the Drivers’ title was settled, honours in the Teams’ Championship needed settling. TRIDENT headed up the field, but Campos Racing remained within range in P2, 282 points to 263 in favour of TRIDENT.

Neither could secure a front row start for Sunday’s Feature Race as Brad Benavides claimed his second Pole of the season, ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu and Noel León who made it a PREMA Racing 2-3 on the grid.

The final Sprint Race of the season was headed up by Laurens van Hoepen, but he quickly lost out to Martinius Stenshorne at Turn 4 before a Safety Car later in the lap neutralised the field.

Tim Tramnitz had started from third but was through on van Hoepen at the restart to take second before setting his sights on Stenshorne ahead.

The MP Motorsport driver took P1 at the halfway stage and began building a gap behind to escape DRS range.

Having started second, Roman Bilinski was on the charge for Rodin Motorsport and found himself fourth after some smart moves in the opening half of the race. The Pole’s progress continued with passes on van Hoepen and then Stenshorne entering final stages.

Despite a late Safety Car, Tramnitz crossed the line P1, but he later lost the victory to a post-race penalty, handing victory to Bilinski, while Stenshorne and van Hoepen completed the podium in P2 and P3.

On to the final day of the season and the Teams’ title remained in the balance. TRIDENT retained a points advantage, but Campos had cut that gap down substantially.

Benavides retained the lead from lights out ahead of Ugochukwu, while León fended off Campos’ Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Nikola Tsolov. The Spanish outfit’s chances were boosted further after opening lap contact put Charlie Wurz on the sidelines.

Ugochukwu eventually forced Benavides into a mistake, allowing the American to take the lead but only briefly. The AIX driver went deep on the brakes at Turn 1 to re-take P1 on Lap 4.

A spin for the PREMA driver then took him out of contention, promoting Tsolov to second. Noah Stromsted was the first TRIDENT driver into the points positions, taking P10 on Lap 13.

Teammate Câmara eventually broke into the points, but Campos had Mari Boya on a charge of his own, now up to P6 after a mistake from Stromsted dropped him back behind the Spaniard.

Lap 17 and having followed teammate Tsolov in third, Inthraphuvasak pulled off the overtake of the season, diving down the outside of the Bulgarian and race leader Benavides to take the lead with six laps to go.

From there, the Thai driver kept the chasing pack at bay to lead teammate Tsolov across the line for a Campos 1-2, securing them the Teams’ Championship despite a late-race fightback from Câmara. León completed the podium in P3.

It left the Spanish team on top of the F3 Standings for the first time in their history, winning on 314 points to TRIDENT’s 303.