"Good to be back" - Câmara takes pole position at Barcelona in F3 qualifying

Written By Trisha Lynnette, Edited by Marit Everett

Credit: Formula 3 via X

Formula 3 qualifying went underway at Barcelona on Friday at 15:05 CEST (13:05 GMT) with championship leader - Rafael Câmara of Trident taking pole position, followed by Nikola Tsolov of Campos Racing and Laurens Van Hoepen of ART Grand Prix.

Prior to qualifying, a free practice session was held for drivers at 09:55 CEST (07:55 GMT) where Câmara managed to set the fastest lap at 1:29.024, asserting his dominance on the track.

The thirty minute qualifying session began in the hot afternoon at Barcelona, drivers starting with their out lap to warmup their tyres. The track was particularly noted this session for the traffic it faced with most drivers out on track.

Trident’s Noah Strømsted set the initial benchmark just three minutes into the session, briefly holding the fastest lap as the field got up to speed. His time was however quickly overshadowed by Câmara, who laid down a strong flying lap to move to provisional pole.

But the shakeup wasn’t over. Just a minute later, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak of Campos Racing had a strong flying lap of his own, snatching provisional pole at the home ground of the team.

22 minutes were left on the clock as Tuukka Taponen of ART Grand Prix managed to take provisional pole, while his teammate James Wharton, took P3. Charlie Wurz of Trident had a drive through the gravel, potentially causing critical damage to his car. 

Ugo Ugochukwu of PREMA Racing caused a momentary yellow flag as he slightly spun on track, causing drivers to slow down initially. Nicola Lacorte of DAMS Racing, Wurz, Tramnitz, Tsolov and Ugochukwu had their lap times deleted as the entire grid entered the pits. 

Credit: Formula 3 via X

All drivers were out on the track at the 16 minute mark, the track filled with the roaring engine of the F3 cars. They completed their out lap once again and warmed their tyres - Taponen still maintained his position in P1. 

Câmara began his flying lap, going fastest in all three sectors and reached provisional pole position. Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport maneuvered his way to P3, Van Hoepen was at P2. A few of the racers entered the pits, having just ten minutes left on the track.

Nicola Marinangeli took a small trip through the gravel as he sat on the last spot on the grid. Eight minutes left on the clock and the drivers entered the pits before the final segment of the session. A few then exited the pits with six minutes on the clock, hoping to warm their tyres and secure pole position. 

Câmara made a decisive call to delay his pit exit, opting to stay in the garage a slightly longer than the rest of the field. A snippet of the team radio was broadcast during the session, having captured his request for the team to hold back. This move proved strategic in timing a strong flying lap. Giusti was noted for impeding which could have led to a grid penalty. Câmara began to move onto the track at the four minute mark. 

“I think traffic is a big thing in Barcelona in quali, so everyone is slowing down in the last sector so it is a bit of a mess. But then I think the team did a very good job,” Câmara said, highlighting his decision of waiting. “I basically was fully alone and I was able to open the lap very clean, so yeah I think it was a very good job by the team and also myself I did a good job in set two so it was able to give me some margin to try a bit more in the last set.” 

Tsolov had managed to set his strongest lap time that pushed him to P2, keeping him well within the points. Van Hoepen was P3 and Câmara took pole position as the session came to an end. For the Sprint Race - Wharton will start at pole position followed by Martinius Stenshorne of Hitech TGR and Tramnitz. 

Credit: Formula 3 via X

Going into the feature race, the top 3 have to keep an eye on tyre degradation, the variety of corners they will face and the pressure faced from each other and the rest of the grid. Going into Turn 1, a spot known for overtaking, will the top 3 have an aggressive approach to one another or will they play the safe game?

Câmara answered the question by saying, “I mean I plan to just have a good clean start and just keep the car on track. Eyes along the race so even if you lose a position you can still fight back, and yeah just be clean and have a good race.”

“Have a clean start and then see how the others make it as well because this is pretty dependent, hopefully I have a good one and we can have a chance into T1 but yeah as well, long race so, let’s see.” said Tsolov.

“The start is very very important here, there is a long run down to turn 1 so it’s just all coming from that, I mean if you have a good start then you can maybe have a look down the inside for T1 but then if you have a bit of a worse start then you maybe just have to focus on staying where you are and keeping it clean through T1.” said Van Hoepen.

The Sprint Race will take place at 10:05 CEST (08:05 GMT) on Saturday, a 21 lap race which will be approximately 40 minutes. 

The Feature Race will take place at 08:30 CEST (06:30 GMT) on Sunday, a 25 lap race which will be around 45 minutes long. 

Make sure to catch the sprint live and if you can’t, don’t worry! Head back over to DIVEBOMB for all the action you might’ve missed.