“A good thing for the future” - Câmara reflects on Monaco Feature Race error ahead of Barcelona F2 weekend

Credit: Formula 2

For much of F2’s Monaco Feature Race, pole-sitter Rafael Câmara looked to have a straightforward victory sewn up. 

The Invicta man took top honours in the annual Monaco qualifying spectacle after a last-gasp effort, and led 33 laps of the 42-lap race, before taking his mandatory pit stop. 

When he rejoined, though, Câmara, like several others before him, struggled to bring the super soft tyre up to temperature quickly enough. But in his case, his out lap would end up having larger consequences - ones that would turn out to be race-ending. 

A comfortable 12-second gap at Beau Rivage had been eroded by the time the Brazilian rounded Anthony Noghes corner, and onto the main straight once again. His closest competitor for the victory, Campos racer Nikola Tsolov, was right on his tail, itching to make a rare overtake around the Monaco streets. 

As the leading pair came up to Sainte-Devote, side-by-side, Câmara locked up his front right tyre, before going straight into the run off at Turn 1 and coming to a halt. Race over. A dream Monaco victory, perhaps locked in, ended in a trail of smoke from a lock up. 

“In a way, it was a very tricky outlap for everyone. At the moment, just feeling that I did a very good job before, so it was in a way quite calm that everything was under control,” Câmara reflected, speaking on the events leading up to his DNF in Monaco.    

Was the Invicta man taking it much more conservatively on his out-lap, though?

Câmara’s decision looked to have come from his end, as evidenced by the surprise and anguish from the pit wall. In a race-winning position, his instincts and approach on the out lap did suggest he was taking it more cautiously than many others. The Invicta man believed it was the right call to carefully bring his tyres in on the out-lap, despite his commanding advantage.

After all, he had plenty more on the line - a Monaco victory in sight in his rookie season, 25 points to add to his championship tally, and a chance to seize the championship lead. Despite losing his commanding gap to Tsolov, Câmara backed his approach. “By not pushing on the out-lap, it paid off in the end,” he maintained.

But in hindsight, Câmara admitted he could have ceded position to the Bulgarian driver, and settled for second place and the 18 points that came with it. 

“By the time Nikola (Tsolov) was right behind me, it was just time to basically give up the position. The mistake was way before,” he said, reflecting retrospectively on the situation.

But for any hungry rookie driver on pole in Monaco for the first time, such thoughts rarely cross the mind. Less so in the heat of the moment. The instinct is simple - go for the outright victory. Câmara’s approach into Turn 1 mirrored what Alex Dunne had looked to do in 2025, albeit with far less of an impact. 

It’s a race every young driver wants to win. It’s why he looked to stay alongside Tsolov coming into Turn 1, holding the inside line into the corner, and braking late on tyres with one lap less temperature and heat in them. 

For any driver, such incidents early in the season serve as a harsh reminder of F2, and what it truly is. As a rookie, it’s an even bigger transition to adapt from going for a race win every time, and developing a balanced approach to avoid risking valuable points on offer for themselves and the team.    

As for Câmara, all these are experiences along the learning curve of a strong rookie season. “It’s a good thing for future experiences,” he said, speaking to DIVEBOMB ahead of the weekend. “We keep focusing on the positive things that were from the weekend.”

With races in Europe coming thick and fast, this week’s Spanish round in Barcelona offers the reigning F3 champion a chance to make up for his big miss in Monaco. It’s a venue of prior success, with Câmara taking pole and winning around the circuit for Trident in his title-winning 2025 campaign. 

“And now for Barcelona, coming here, (I am) very excited to start again. For us, qualifying has been very good, so can't wait to start again and see what we can do this weekend,” Câmara reiterated, looking ahead to the race weekend. 

For sure, the miss in Monaco would sting for the Invicta man, and for the team, whose pit crew were distraught and on their haunches after their yellow machine ended in the run-off. But if anything, it serves as a valuable lesson for Câmara to convert several opportunities into race wins down the road.