FIA Formula 3 Season Review: Major twists in the title race

29 December 2025

After the return to action in Spielberg, Formula 3 was back on track at Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps, two race weekends that would play major roles in deciding both titles.

Rafael Câmara led the Drivers’ Championship by 24 points but was coming off one of his tougher weekends at the Red Bull Ring, while his rivals were coming on strong.

So here is how the next two race weekends played out…

ROUND 7 – SILVERSTONE

Nikola Tsolov had looked set to close to within a point of Câmara after winning in Spielberg. However, a post Feature Race disqualification saw him drop down to third, and he lost ground to his title rival.

But he had clearly put that behind him as he took pole in phenomenal style with a 1:45.043. He beat Ugo Ugochukwu to the Aramco Pole Position Award by just 0.023s, with Câmara in third.

On to the Sprint Race, Campos Racing continued their fine weekend when Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak earned his and Thailand’s first win in Formula 3.

Inthraphuvasak claimed the first F3 win for Thailand at the Silverstone Sprint Race

Inthraphuvasak was forced to hold off the challenge of Théophile Nael early on, and briefly lost the lead to his rival. However, the Frenchman was told to give the place back, and once the Campos driver got it back, he would hold on to it to the chequered flag.

Nael could not hold on to P2 either and lost out to Martinius Stenshorne and Mari Boya – the Spaniard pulling off an overtake that would see him win the Dallara Best Overtaking Manoeuvre Award at the year-end Prize Giving Ceremony.

On to Sunday, Tsolov, having been involved in an opening lap tangle that knocked him to the back in the Sprint Race, led from pole, but there was a huge issue for him, Ugochukwu and Câmara.

The trio had opted to start on the Hard tyres while rain started to come down, leading to a damp track. Boya in fourth made a brilliant start on his Wet tyres and took the lead.

The top three starters fell through the field, while Boya streaked clear and the rain was only getting heavier.

The Safety Car came out on Lap 11 and led the pack around, but with conditions not improving, the race was Red Flagged on Lap 14.

Silverstone was a special weekend for Campos with Boya winning the Feature Race

It left Boya on top, while Nael made up for his Sprint Race outing to finish second, ahead of Noel León.

With TRIDENT having just five points to their name from the weekend, and Campos scoring 40, it meant the Spanish outfit went to Spa-Francorchamps at the top of the Teams’ Standings.

ROUND 8 – SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS

After a couple of difficult weekends for TRIDENT and Câmara, they were eager to make up for things at Spa, and they looked to have done so in Qualifying.

The Brazilian had been on top early on, but was forced to settle for P2 after Brad Benavides went from a provisional 24th to pole for AIX Racing – giving us a third pole-sitter of the season.

On to the Sprint Race, and Noah Stromsted put TRIDENT back on track with his first victory in F3, overtaking Freddie Slater on Lap 3 before going on to win.

Benavides became the third driver to take pole in 2025 at Spa

Ugochukwu was also looking to make up for his missed opportunity at Silverstone, and after a strong start from seventh, he overtook Charlie Wurz for third and then Slater for P2.

The Austrian driver then got ahead of Slater to go to P3, giving TRIDENT a 1-3 across the line, a result that put the Italian team back on top of the Teams’ Standings going to Budapest.

STAT ATTACK: All the key numbers and records from the 2025 season

Campos would have been keen to respond in the Feature Race, but torrential rain meant that the race had to be Red Flagged and left us without a classification.

With that being the case, it meant that none of Câmara’s title rivals could not close in on him, and he left Round 8 with a 28-point lead, and in with a chance of winning the Championship next time out in Budapest.