Câmara blitzes the field in Hungary to claim the FIA Formula 3 title

Written by Jasmin Low, Edited by Meghana Sree

Trident’s Rafael Câmara sealed the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship this weekend at the Hungaroring, navigating a Safety Car-ridden Feature Race on his path to the title.

Trident's Rafael Câmara sealed the 2025 Formula 3 Drivers' Title following the F3 Feature Race at the Hungaroring | Credit: Formula 3 via X

This weekend’s FIA Formula 3 Feature Race brought to a close the penultimate round of the 2025 season, tackling the Hungaroring for 24 laps. With a potential title on the line, Rafael Câmara led the charge heading into the race with 129 points, 31 points ahead of Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov. 

What Came Before

Câmara scored a record-breaking fifth pole position of the year, topping the timesheets by just eight-thousandths of a second, joined on the front row of the grid by Aston Martin Junior Mari Boya, who had occupied the top spot for the majority of Qualifying. Tuukka Taponen’s time of 1:32.652 was enough for third, over a tenth behind Boya’s time. Câmara’s qualifying performance was an important step toward sealing the F3 title, as his closest rival Tsolov was set to line up 21st on the grid in both the Sprint and Feature Races. 

All was not lost for the Bulgarian, who had managed to make up six places during the 19-lap sprint, making his way up the field despite the track being notoriously difficult to overtake at.

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak took his second victory of the season from reverse-grid pole, fending off a late charge from PREMA Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu on the road to the top step.

Charlie Wurz executed a last-lap overtake on James Hedley to complete the podium, finishing third. 

As it Happened

Despite taking place during the European Summer, the skies opened over the Hungaroring in the hours leading up to the race start, adding another variable into the mix as the 30-car grid were yet to test out their pace in the wet. 

As spray flew from the back of the cars through the formation lap, it was decided that there would be a rolling start, benefiting the likes of Câmara who would lead the field around the final corner and into the first lap.

With Câmara left to dictate the pace, the Brazilian dropped the hammer early, leading the 30-car field down the start/finish straight. MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz was sent spinning at Turn 7, managing to continue but watching his championship hopes slip away in the process. 

Callum Voisin was dealt a five-second penalty for causing a collision with Bruno del Pino at Turn 1, as Boya managed to close the gap to Câmara heading into Lap 3, just in time for DRS (Drag Reduction System) to be enabled. However, the Safety Car was called out the next lap after Brad Benavides made contact with Roman Bilinski at Turn 13, ending up in the tyre barrier. 

With the Safety Car called in heading into Lap 7, Câmara was left once again to lead the pack, retaining the race lead. Further down the field, Tsolov had made his way up to 13th, climbing his way toward the points-paying positions. 

However, it wasn’t long until the Safety Car was required again, as Gerrard Xie collected the PREMA of Ugochukwu, losing the rear of his Hitech whilst the American attempted to make his way around the silver-liveried machine through Turn 5. As a result of the incident, Xie lost what would have been his highest race-finish in the championship and was handed a ten-second penalty by the Stewards.

Now faced with his third Safety Car restart, Câmara brought the field almost to a standstill, before pulling a gap of over seven-tenths to Boya as the green flag flew. Tsolov continued to display his overtaking prowess, moving into tenth by Lap 11. 

AIX Racing’s James Hedley was sent into a pirouette after making contact with Noel León, managing to rejoin the race in 27th and last. 

Into Lap 14, Câmara held a lead of over 1.5 seconds, charging toward the title crown. However, Boya soon broke into DRS range of the Trident, setting the fastest lap as the race went to time. Like his teammate, Tsolov was leveraging the strong pace of his Campos machine, occupying sixth with 11 minutes left on the clock. 

McLaren Junior Martinius Stenshorne took a gamble on switching to slick tyres, joined in the pit lane with del Pino. However, the strategic shake-up didn’t work out, sending the drivers skating over the track surface, struggling for grip. 

Wurz closed in on Taponen with just three minutes left on the clock, battling away with the Finn for the final podium position. With the fastest lap in hand, Câmara flew through into the final lap with a gap of over two seconds to Boya, taking the chequered flag and with it, the race win.

Crucially, Tsolov was unable to make his way into P5, ceding second in the championship to Boya.

With his P2 finish, Boya leapfrogs Tramnitz to take second heading into the final round at Monza. Taponen resisted the late charge from Wurz to take the final podium position.

The Championship

In what was an inspired drive from the Brazilian after navigating wet conditions and multiple Safety Car restarts, Câmara was the first to the flag, and alongside the Winner’s Trophy, he will take home the title of 2025 Formula 3 Champion. 

In doing so, the Ferrari protégé signs off on a dominant rookie season in Formula 3, taking four Feature Race victories and five pole positions on his way to the title with one round yet to come. His championship win marks the third consecutive F3 Drivers’ Title for Trident, starting with fellow Brazilian Gabriel Bortoleto in 2023. 

With the Drivers’ Championship signed, sealed and delivered, the Campos duo of Boya and Tsolov will head to Monza separated by just two points, completing the championship top three. There is still all to play for as the pair duel it out for the runner-up position in a month’s time. 

Trident lead the Teams’ Championship with 282 points, followed by Campos on 263. It has been a commanding season for the pair, with MP Motorsport nearly 100 points behind in third. 

Formula 3 will return for its tenth and final round of 2025, heading to the Temple of Speed from 5th to 7th September.