Taponen happy with maiden Feature Race podium but already focused on Monza and chance of first F3 win

8 August 2025

Tuukka Taponen stood on an FIA Formula 3 Feature Race podium for the first time this season in Budapest, achieving a P3 result on Sunday for ART Grand Prix.

The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy talent was able to hold off a host of rivals in the closing laps around a drying Hungaroring to secure his visit to the rostrum.

Reflecting on the race and the weekend overall, the Finn says it was an important milestone in his rookie campaign, but he was not surprised by the result having shown pace all season long.

“Obviously I need to be happy for that, but I'm not celebrating massively because I knew it's been there waiting for me. And I have had a couple of P4’s this year earlier on, so it's not a surprise I would say, but happy to have finally podium on Sunday as well.

“I didn’t really have the pace. I managed to hold them behind, but it was never easy. At some point I was starting to think that we were going to need to do a pit stop. Because it started to be sunny, and I started to see some dry spots on the track.

“But anyway, slicks were never quicker than the wet tyres. So luckily, the conditions were not as bad as in Spa, and we were able to able to drive this as a proper wet race.”

Diving into the specifics of why the results haven’t come sooner, Taponen explained that Qualifying has been the limiting factor in 2025.

Taponen says that Qualifying was the key to his maiden F3 Feature Race podium in Budapest

While he and his teammates James Wharton and Laurens van Hoepen have felt comfortable earlier in the grid-setting sessions, it’s making an improvement on the final laps that have held ART back according to the Finn.

So he was not surprised to be fighting for the top spots after executing a clean Qualifying session around the Hungaroring, where he fought for Pole Position.

“We have done a decent job to be able to qualify well, and that helps obviously for the race. The only problem the last couple of weekends has been being able to put the lap in on the last set of tyres in qualifying.

“The last set of tyres matters so much in this Championship, because you get a better track, you get less fuel, so you always improve the lap time. You get also better feeling with the car as a driver.

“So last three weekends, I have not been able to complete that last push, and that's why the qualifying result has been so bad. This weekend, I managed to do it, and that P3 is completely where we should be. And again, that's not a surprise. It might look like a surprise because the last few weekends have been very bad, but we know clearly what the issue has been.

The Finn is already eyeing up his first win and is targeting a season-ending victory at Monza

Looking ahead to the finale next month at Monza, Taponen is bracing for a chaotic Qualifying session to end the year on, as everyone fights for a slipstream around the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza.

The ART driver believes that it will be crucial to find the ideal track position to ensure the benefits of a tow and avoid being at the head of the queue and ending up without one.

“We are gonna need to keep in mind Monza is probably going to be a big mess with finding good track position for Qualifying. No one who wants to lead the back and go alone, because if you go alone, it's just very difficult to get pole position or even a top five.

“Winning the Feature Race is our target. Now we had the podium, and we will try and do the job in qualifying again, put the car as high as possible, and then we’ll see on Sunday how it goes.”