Tramnitz returns to form with F3 sprint victory at Monza
- Trisha Lynnette Nathan
- Sep 6
- 7 min read
Written by Trisha Lynnette
The Formula 3 Sprint Race in Monza got underway on Saturday at 09:15 CEST (8:15 BST), with Tim Tramnitz of MP Motorsport taking the final Sprint Race victory of the 2025 season. He was followed by Roman Bilinski of Rodin Motorsport in second and Martinius Stenshorne of Hitech TGR securing the final podium spot in third.
Anticipation filled the air in sunny Monza, as drivers lined up - ready for the final sprint race of the season. Laurens Van Hoepen of ART Grand Prix stood at the first row, followed by Stenshorne and Tramnitz at P2 and P3 respectively.
A strong launch off the line saw Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport and Stenshorne gain positions as they jumped van Hoepen. Tuukka Taponen of ART Grand Prix almost passed both drivers but ran wide at the opening chicane and lost momentum. Tramnitz made a decisive move and climbed to fourth.
Further back, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak of Campos Racing ran into the gravel, while Ivan Domingues of Van Amersfoort Racing picked up damage as he tried to avoid the incident. The safety car was deployed as Domingues came to a halt - an unfortunate ending to the Mexican driver’s race.
Pole-sitter Brad Benavides of AIX Racing also sustained front wing damage in the opening exchanges as he made contact with Inthraphuvasak. Meanwhile, Rafael Câmara of Trident gained five positions, moving into twenty-fifth by Lap 2. Tramnitz advanced into third, while Benavides was investigated by the stewards and earned a ten-second penalty for causing the collision.
The race resumed on Lap 4 with the safety car coming to an end. The drivers stopped weaving as they prepared to restart the race. Matías Zagazeta of DAMS Lucas Oil ran in fourth, while Tramnitz quickly overtook Van Hoepen to move into second. Taponen dropped down the order to sixth. Noah Strømsted of Trident locked up heavily and went wide, losing several positions worsening the chances for the teams championship.
Bilinski overtook Zagazeta for fourth, slowly making his way up the table. Meanwhile Van Hoepen pressured Tramnitz in the fight for a podium. Ugo Ugochukwu of PREMA Racing ran wide, which allowed Bilinski into third and pushed Van Hoepen into fourth.
On Lap 9, Tramnitz took the lead, while Bilinski pressed for second. At the same time, Nicola Lacorte of DAMS Lucas Oil received a ten-second stop-and-go penalty for being out of position during the safety car period.
Câmara was noted for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. By Lap 12, Bilinski overtook Stenshorne after the Norwegian went wide. Stenshorne rejoined the track ahead by cutting across, but his engineer quickly instructed him to give the place back. Meanwhile, Ugochukwu ran wide yet again at Turn 1 as he avoided contact with Zagazeta.
Incidents continued to unfold. Charlie Wurz of Trident ran into the back of Noel León of PREMA Racing, clipping his teammate Brando Badoer in the process. Bilinski locked up while attempting to close the gap to Tramnitz, thereby giving the German the chance to further his lead.
Moments later, Wurz went straight on at Turn 1 and dropped down the order before retiring, which triggered the second and final safety car of the session. The sequence of contact between Wurz, León and Badoer left all three drivers compromised, with Badoer falling down the field, León facing a bit of damage and Wurz’s retirement.
The safety car period altered the outlook for the teams’ standings. Campos Racing was close to gaining seven points, closing the gap to Trident, while MP Motorsport scored ten points to consolidate their hold on third place.
The race restarted with only one lap remaining. As the green flag waved, Tramnitz pulled clear of Bilinski. Ugochukwu ran wide again and dropped to twelfth. Giusti came under heavy pressure from Mari Boya of Campos Racing in the fight for fifth, while Zagazeta also came under threat as he attempted to hold his position between the two drivers.
Lacorte was handed another ten-second penalty for forcing a rival off track. Further down, Nikola Tsolov of Campos Racing finished in twenty-third after a difficult race. The Bulgarian was well within the points but faced some difficulties in the last corner of the last lap. Benavides fell to twenty-sixth following similar difficulties he faced.
In the end, it was a commanding victory for Tramnitz, who managed the restarts and held firm under pressure. Bilinski secured second after a consistent performance, while Stenshorne completed the podium.
With the final Sprint Race of the 2025 Formula 3 season completed, attention now turned to Sunday’s Feature Race at Monza, the ultimate finale of the year. A great deal remained at stake in the teams’ championship, particularly for Campos Racing and Trident. Both squads endured underwhelming performances in the Sprint, setting up a tense showdown.
Campos are just fifteen points away from what would be their first ever teams’ title. The trio of Tsolov, Boya and Inthraphuvasak need to deliver in the Feature to close the gap. With Inthraphuvasak and Tsolov starting from fourth and fifth on the grid, Campos are given a fighting chance.
If both drivers maintain their positions and the Trident cars stayed outside the points, Campos could gain twenty-two points — enough to seal the championship.
For the three podium finishers of the Sprint, the result also carried significance beyond the immediate. Each reflected on how ending the day on a high would shape their momentum going into the winter break.
“Yeah it’s always nice to get a good result, especially at the end of the season. The finish on a high is really nice,” said Stenshorne. After a tough middle part of the year, he stressed the importance of turning form around in the closing rounds, noting that a result like this gave him confidence heading into the break.
Bilinski echoed the value of consistency but emphasised a pragmatic approach. “It’s definitely good going into the winter, but every race is the same for me. We all have the same job and we all want to win, so that’s kind of how I look at it,” he explained, before adding: “But of course, it’s a nice way to go into the winter break.” For him, the podium provided satisfaction, but the focus remained firmly on the bigger picture.
Tramnitz, who stood on the top step of the podium, reflected on the timing of his victory. “I mean, we’ll see what this result will help me,” he said. “I think overall it’s nice just for myself going into the winter break, winning a race towards the end of the season and especially for me as well after some tough rounds.” For the German, ending the year with a win brought a sense of redemption after several frustrating weekends.
With the curtain nearly falling on the season, the drivers were also asked by DIVEBOMB to summarise their campaigns as a whole.
Bilinski was quick to highlight both the highs and lows: “There’s been some very, very good moments. Like the first race of the season, Monaco and now here. There’s been in the middle of the season, some not so good moments. But, I guess, that’s racing, that’s Formula 3. That’s just motorsport in general, you know.”
He went on to stress that reflection was as important as celebration: “So it’s all about learning from all of these. I’m happy with the job in the end. It’s not done yet. There’s still one more race to try and climb a bit higher in the championship.”
Tramnitz offered a candid assessment of his season, identifying qualifying as the biggest weakness: “We had some good performances, good recoveries. I think qualifying this year costed us a lot. I think at the beginning of the year we were quite strong in general. I think we were, yeah, the development was not quite good as we expected. And there were still a few things we didn’t fully understand, especially in qualifying. And I think this costed us a lot this year.”
He continued, pointing out the consequences of those struggles: “I mean, everytime you’re in the top 12, at least you have one race where you can really fight for the points or where you are in the mix. And we missed out just too often on that. And I think that’s probably the biggest thing that costed us this year.”
Despite the challenges, he looked ahead with optimism: “So for sure, I’m not fully happy with this year. And there’s one more race to go. I think if we manage to finish second in the championship, of course, it would be a good recovery after looking at the season. But for sure the goal is just to finish in the top three in the end.”
Stenshorne also gave a reflective view of his campaign, highlighting the inconsistency of results: “We had some good moments and also some not some good moments. I think overall as a team we’ve been a bit up and down, sometimes very competitive and sometimes not qualifying in races.”
He pointed to the variance between circuits: “Like Red Bull Ring for example, we had very good race days and then other races like Barcelona, we were quite slow to be honest. But overall, I think we can still be quite happy with our season. It’s not exactly what we came for, but hopefully we can end it on a high tomorrow.”
As the drivers looked ahead to the Feature Race and beyond, their words carried a mixture of relief, reflection and determination. Monza promised one last chance to define their 2025 campaigns — and for Campos and Trident, one final showdown to decide the fate of the teams’ championship.
That brings an end to the final Sprint Race of the 2025 season. We end this weekend and the season with the Feature Race at 08:15 CEST (07:15 BST) with Benavides leading the grid.
Final Classification for Sprint Race
Position | Driver | Team |
P1 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport |
P2 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin Motorsport |
P3 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech TGR |
P4 | Laurens Van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix |
P5 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS Lucas Oil |
P6 | Mari Boya | Campos Racing |
P7 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport |
P8 | Noel León | PREMA Racing |
P9 | Callum Voisin | Rodin Motorsport |
P10 | Noah Strømsted | Trident |
P11 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA Racing |
P12 | Rafael Câmara | Trident |
P13 | Theophile Naël | Van Amersfoort Racing |
P14 | Tuukka Taponen | ART Grand Prix |
P15 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos Racing |
P16 | Nikita Johnson | Hitech TGR |
P17 | Bruno Del Pino | MP Motorsport |
P18 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech TGR |
P19 | James Wharton | ART Grand Prix |
P20 | Fernando Barrichello | AIX Racing |
P21 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing |
P22 | Louis Sharp | Rodin Motorsport |
P23 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos Racing |
P24 | Christian Ho | DAMS Lucas Oil |
P25 | James Hedley | Van Amersfoort Racing |
P26 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing |
P27 | Brando Badoer | PREMA Racing |
P28 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS Lucas Oil |
DNF | Charlie Wurz | Trident |
DNF | Ivan Domingues | Van Amersfoort Racing |
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