FIA Formula 3 2025 Season Review – Off the mark in Melbourne and onto Bahrain

With the 2025 season in the books, we’re looking back at the seventh season of FIA Formula 3 racing and all the action it provided us.

Drivers’ Champion Rafael Câmara started off on the front foot, setting the tone for his title-winning campaign with a tremendous debut with TRIDENT Down Under.

In Bahrain, the Brazilian went two-for-two, earning a second Feature Race victory in similar fashion to compatriot Gabriel Bortoleto before him en route to the F3 crown.

Round 1 – Melbourne

Reigning Teams’ Champions TRIDENT started off the year with a superb result in the first Qualifying of the season, taking a front row lock-out as Câmara headed up teammate Noah Stromsted. Théophile Nael took a promising third on the grid for Van Amersfoort Racing.

The Dutch team had prime position on the Sprint Race grid, with Santiago Ramos starting on reverse grid pole ahead of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Matías Zagazeta on the front row.

The Mexican driver retained his lead into Turn 1, but it was Martinius Stenshorne for Hitech TGR who was on the move, rounding Zagazeta and Roman Bilinski on the opening lap to take second place having started P4.

An early Safety Car bunched the pack up, but Ramos kept everyone at bay despite a small error on Lap 9. Stenshorne was able to stick with the race leader, but another Safety Car meant there was no chance in the final laps for the Norwegian to find a route through, with Bilinski rounding out the podium in third.

Torrential rain arrived in time for Sunday’s Feature Race, necessitating a rolling start which Câmara turned into a comfortable early lead.

He left the pack trailing in the spray, while several drivers scrapped behind for the remaining points places.

Stromsted held Nael at bay, but worsening rain meant that the Red Flags were waving before the full race distance could be achieved. However, with 18 of the 20 laps already on the board, the field were rewarded with a full points allocation for the long-haul trip and Round 1.

Pole and a fastest lap gave Câmara 28 points and a nine-point advantage over second-placed Nael in the Standings leaving Australia, with Stromsted a further point back in third on 17.

Round 2 – Sakhir

Another pole position for Câmara put him on course for the record he’d achieve later in the season for most poles in a single F3 season. He finished a tenth-and-a-half clear of Callum Voisin in P2, with Charlie Wurz third on the grid for TRIDENT.

Hitech TGR’s Joshua Dufek led the field from reverse grid pole on Saturday, but debutant Freddie Slater moved ahead of Stenshorne for second on the run to Turn 4. That became P1 on Lap 2 with a decisive move into the first corner on Dufek.

Nikola Tsolov was on the move early for Campos Racing, passing several rivals in the early stages and was quickly up to third with a move on Stenshorne at Turn 1. He cleared Dufek after a Safety Car intervention and after a lengthy battle with rookie Slater, took the lead just over halfway into the Sprint.

The Bulgarian would not be denied and claimed his first win of the 2025 season in an impressive showing, while Slater earned praise for his debut in P2. Tuukka Taponen rounded out the podium for ART Grand Prix, unable to make a pass on Slater on the final lap.

Onto Feature Race Sunday and the fight for the win was between Câmara and Voisin. The latter was able to take the lead into Turn 1 at lights out, before defending the place on Lap 3 with a clever switchback out of Turn 4.

The Rodin driver’s resistance ended though on Lap 5, with Câmara able to make a move stick to re-take P1. From there, the Brazilian built up his advantage and won to the tune of six seconds at the chequered flag.

Behind Voisin, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz made a superb charge through the pack from 13th on the grid to make it onto the final step of the podium for MP Motorsport.

Leaving Bahrain, Câmara’s points advantage had grown to 26 points already, as he went onto 56. Tramnitz was now P2 on 30 points, while Voisin drew level with Stromsted on 27 points, third and fourth respectively heading back to Europe.