Invicta Racing have confirmed the signing of the 2025 Formula 3 Champion Rafael Camara for the 2026 season, completing their line-up for next year.
After a stellar campaign in F3, during which he achieved four victories, five pole positions and podiums in total on his way to winning the title with a round to spare, Camara will now step up to Formula 2 with Invicta.
Camara graduates to the second tier with an impressive record in single seater racing having won the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine and finished third in the Middle East equivalent that same year and in 2023 also.
The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy member will now step up to Formula 2 with Invicta, racing alongside Joshua Duerksen.
I’m very proud to be joining Invicta Racing for my first season in Formula 2. Over the past few years, this team has become the top target for any driver who wants to race in F2 and has shown time and again that it knows how to develop young drivers. To follow Gabriel Bortoleto and Leonardo Fornaroli in making this step as Formula 3 Champion is a huge honour. After an incredible season in F3 this year, I feel ready for the next challenge, and I can’t wait to get started with the team. Camara on the news.
We’re thrilled to welcome Rafael to Invicta Racing for 2026. At every stage of his career to date, he’s shown pace, consistency, and maturity, delivering outstanding results that really speak for themselves. To have the reigning Formula 3 champion join the team for a third consecutive season underlines our commitment to providing the very best young talent with a platform to perform at the highest level, and we’re very excited to see what Rafael can achieve next season. James Robinson, Invicta Racing Team Principal.
Inthraphuvasak immediately moved to cover off James Hedley at lights out and he retained the lead into the first corner, while Brando Badoer moved ahead of Alessandro Giusti to take P4.
Hedley tried a move at Turn 10 to take the lead, but that allowed James Wharton a chance at second though the AIX Racing driver retained P2 as they entered the final sector.
Just behind them and entering the penultimate corner, Giusti had contact with Ugochukwu which damaged his suspension and left him heading into the barriers, bringing out the Safety Car.
The Safety Car was in at the end of Lap 3 with Inthraphuvasak leading Hedley, Wharton, Badoer and Ugochukwu in the top five.
The American was able to find a pass on his teammate at Turn 13 to take fourth on Lap 5 and he was immediately harrying Wharton for third position.
With DRS on Lap 7, the PREMA driver set up a switchback out of Turn 1 to move up to third place, and by Lap 8 he was onto the back of Hedley, as the Briton remained within half a second of the race leader.
A wide moment at Turn 4 for Hedley on Lap 11 opened the door to the McLaren Development Driver, Ugochukwu moved up to second and set about closing the one-second gap to Inthraphuvasak. Lap 14 and he had closed in on the leader and was into DRS range of the Campos driver.
In the fight for the final podium spot, Hedley had fallen five seconds away and had Wharton glued to his gearbox, but an opportunistic pass by Wurz at Turn 3 gave the Trident driver P4.
Moments later, Noel Leon and Theophile Nael ran off at Turn 4 as they fought for position and made contact as they rejoined, leaving the PREMA driver out of the running and bringing out the Safety Car.
It was withdrawn with a lap to go, leaving Inthraphuvasak to fend off Ugochukwu for the victory in a one-lap shootout.
Wurz was on the move behind them as he dived down the inside of Hedley to take third position at Turn 1. Inthraphuvasak held on though, earning his second Sprint Race victory of the year ahead of Ugochukwu and Wurz.
Day 3-
The race got underway with a rolling start and Camara retained the lead comfortably from pole ahead of Boya and Taponen in second and third places.
Tim Tramnitz’s slender hopes of remaining in title contention took a blow early on as he spun at Turn 7 to fall down the order having started P16.
Ugo Ugochukwu was making quick progress having gone from seventh on the grid, and he claimed P5 on Lap 2 with a pass around the outside of Theophile Nael at the second corner.
While the conditions remained damp, DRS was enabled on Lap 3 and Boya remained within a second of the race leader and his title rival, as the top two began to pull away from the rest of the pack.
The Campos driver piled the pressure on with the fastest lap of the race, and he attempted a move into Turn 2 but couldn’t find the traction to make it stick.
The Safety Car was deployed on Lap 4 with AIX Racing driver Brad Benavides in the tyre wall at the exit of Turn 13 following contact with Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Bilinksi.
Racing got underway entering Lap 7, and Camara retained the advantage out in front while teammate Charlie Wurz moved himself up to P6 at Turn 1 pass on Nael.
Ugochukwu looked set to complete an overtake on Gerrard Xie for P4 at Turn 5 but was tagged into a spin by the Hitech TGR driver. It brought out the Safety Car once again with both suffering race-ending damage and stopping on track.
The Safety Car was in at the end of Lap 10, and once again Camara got a clean restart to head the field.
Nikola Tsolov was on a charge, going from P13 to P10 on the first racing lap back to green. He got the switchback out of Turn 1 on Noah Stromsted to improve to P9 on Lap 12, and then passed James Wharton to take eighth position.
The Australian then slipped back to 10th on Lap 13, as a wide moment aat Turn 13 allowed teammate Laurens van Hoepen by.
Up ahead, Tsolov was on the move once again and he improved to P7 into Turn 1 with a pass on Alessandro Giusti. Before the end of the lap, he passed Brando Badoer at Turn 14 to secure P6.
The Bulgarian closed the gap down to Nael ahead and by Lap 20, he was within a second of the Van Amersfoort Racing driver in the fight for P5.
They soon caught up to the podium battle as they joined Wurz in harrying Taponen for third position, as the clock ticked into two minutes remaining of the Feature Race following the earlier Safety Car periods.
In front of them though, nobody could prevent Camara taking a crowning victory and the 2025 Drivers’ Championship with it.
The full top 10 are – P1: Camara, P2: Boya, P3: Taponen, P4: Wurz, P5: Nael, P6: Tsolov, P7: Badoer, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Giusti and P10: Inthraphuvasak.
Rafael Camara kicked off the weekend in which he could clinch the title in the perfect way, topping Free Practice for Trident with a 1:33.888.
Brad Benavides and Roman Bilinski were two late improvers to wind up second and third quickest, before a late Red Flag for title contender Nikola Tsolov, who came to a halt in his Campos Racing car, ending the session.
After waiting for improved track conditions, the majority of cars took to the track with 10 minutes gone and it was Gerrard Xie that led the way on a 1:36.476 for Hitech TGR.
Tim Tramnitz lowered the benchmark to a 1:34.619 for MP Motorsport with under half an hour to go, as Mari Boya settled into second 0.2s down on that.
Camara then leapt to the top of the times on a 1:34.138 to go 0.481s clear of anybody with his first flying lap of the day, before title rival Tsolov moved up to second, cutting the gap to 0.3s.
Ugo Ugochukwu lifted PREMA Racing up to third with just over 20 minutes to go, slotting in behind Tsolov. Charlie Wurz was the next to break into the top five, putting TRIDENT 1-2 as he went within 0.263s of his teammate.
The next set of improvements came with 10 minutes left on the clock, with Camara lowering the time to beat to a 1:33.888. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak went to P2 in his Campos, 0.4s off the Brazilian’s P1 time, with Noah Stromsted third a further 0.015s down.
Into the final six minutes and Bilinski cut the deficit to Camara to 0.2s, before Benavides went to P2 for AIX Racing, just 0.064s off the top spot.
The Red Flags were then deployed after Tsolov came to a halt ahead of Turn 12. With three minutes left of practice, the session was not resumed.
Qualifying-
Rafael Camara took a big step towards the 2025 Drivers’ Championship, taking his fifth Aramco Pole Position Award of the season.
Under pressure heading into the final attempts of the day, the Trident driver delivered a 1:32.510 to go less than a hundredth clear of his Campos Racing rival Mari Boya in second. Tuukka Taponen finished third for ART Grand Prix after a late improvement of his own.
Ugo Ugochukwu laid down the time to beat early on, setting a 1:33.436 on his first attempt for PREMA Racing. Noah Stromsted beat that shortly after to go quicker on a 1:33.054, with Laurens van Hoepen going up to second for ART, 0.055s down on the TRIDENT driver’s time.
Camara had been P5 after his first laptime of the session, but his time was deleted for exceeding track limits at Turn 4. He immediately returned to the pitlane complaining of too much understeer around the entirety of the lap.
Campos opted to hold their drivers back to run in the gap on an empty track. It looked to pay off them in their first runs, with Boya going to the top of the times on a 1:33.013. Teammates Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak followed by going P2, 0.3s down, while Nikola Tsolov went to fourth after their first laps.
The trio returned to the pit lane while the rest of the field headed back out for their second set of attempts with half the session remaining.
Brando Badoer put PREMA to the top and teammate Noel Leon followed to go P2 momentarily. MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti then posted a time to go quickest, until Charlie Wurz restored TRIDENT top of the pile on a 1:32.737. Ugochukwu followed across the line to go second, losing out on P1 by just 0.001s.
After the second flurry of laps, the top four were separated by just 0.089s, with Camara fifth, 0.110s off his teammate’s leading time.
The Campos trio then delivered their second attempts with Boya returning to P1 on a 1:32.653. Inthraphuvasak went to eighth 0.241s down on the Spaniard, but Tsolov was left P15 going into the final eight minutes of the session.
Into the final attempts and Gerrard Xie delivered an improvement to go up to second for Hitech TGR, 0.010s off Boya’s earlier effort. Theophile Nael went to third a further thousandth behind the Chinese driver, but Tuukka Taponen then went to provisional pole by the same margin, 1:32.652 putting him 0.001s clear of Boya in second.
Camara and Boya then set their final laps, and the Brazilian delivered pole position for the fifth time in 2025 on a 1:32.510, 0.008s clear of Boya who improved one final time to go second again.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Camara, P2: Boya, P3: Taponen, P4: Xie, P5: Nael, P6: Wurz, P7: Ugochukwu, P8: Badoer, P9: Giusti and P10: Wharton.
Roman Bilinski immediately covered off Martinius Stenshorne from the front row, but the Hitech TGR driver dived to the inside at Turn 1, while Tim Tramnitz opted for the outside line. The MP Motorsport driver collided with Stenshorne, spinning the Norwegian into the path of Bilinski.
All three were out as a result of the contact, while a great start for Ivan Domingues from sixth on the grid left the rookie with the lead.
The Safety Car was deployed for various incidents on the opening lap, including a collision between Tuukka Taponen and Rafael Camara. The ART Grand Prix suffered a slow getaway and the Trident driver was left unsighted, and with nowhere to go the pair made race-ending contact.
The Safety Car was withdrawn and the Sprint resumed entering Lap 5, with Domingues getting a good restart to lead Noah Stromsted and Laurens van Hoepen in the top three.
Alessandro Giusti had to avoid contact with teammate Tramnitz on the opening lap but his recovery from P10 started with a move on the other MP driver Bruno del Pino at Turn 4.
Van Hoepen fell back from the top two after the restart, but Ramos was right with the ART car, and with DRS on lap 9, the Mexican driver secured P3 into Turn 1.
Lap 12 and Theophile Nael looked to pull off a pass on James Wharton at Turn 1, the pair going wheel to wheel at Turn 1 that left the VAR driver taking to the escape road.
Onto Lap 13 and Van Hoepen lost another spot, this time to Campos’ Tsolov as the Bulgarian driver rounded the ART into Turn 1.
Giusti moved himself into seventh on Lap 15, using DRS to pass Wharton down the main straight. A few corners later, an opportunistic dive to the inside of Turn 5 gave Mari Boya 10th position in a great pass on compatriot del Pino.
Boya’s charge continued at the expense of Leon the following lap, a DRS pass for ninth into the first corner on the PREMA Racing driver putting him in eighth.
With five laps to go, Stromsted began to close back in on the race leader, lapping 0.3s quicker than Domingues and the Trident rookie was on the cusp of gaining DRS once more. But as the pair were about to begin Lap 18, the Dane suddenly slowed, pulling into the pitlane retiring from the race.
It left Domingues to lead home a 1-2 for VAR with Ramos second on a great day for the team, Tsolov was third for Campos.
The full top 10 are- P1: Domignues, P2: Ramos, P3: Tsolov, P4: van Hoepen, P5: Nael, P6: Giusti, P7: Boya, P8: Wharton, P9: Inthraphuvasak and P10: Leon.
Day 3-
Camara aced his start but Nikola Tsolov didn’t, he was slow to get up to speed and fell to eighth by the time they made turn 1.
The Championship leader retained the lead ahead of Laurens van Hoepen and Nael in second and third respectively as the top three built a comfortable gap to Tuukka Taponen in fourth by the end of the first lap.
Contact between Roman Bilinski and Jose Garfias brought out the Safety Car on Lap 3, the pair tangling at Turn 4 and coming to a halt. With their cars cleared, racing resumed going onto Lap 8 and after a great start from P10 on the grid, Martinus Stenshorne claimed P4 from Taponen at the first corner.
The Finn’s day was made worse on the following lap as he slowed and dropped to the back of the field.
Alessandro Giusti moved up into the top five as a result and that soon became fourth, with a pass on Stenshorne into the first corner on Lap 11.
The top three continued to break away from the chasing pack and were two seconds clear by Lap 14, as van Hoepen and Nael remained within DRS range in the lead battle.
Further back, Tsolov moved himself back into the top five with a DRS pass on Stenshorne on Lap 17. Ivan Domingues repeated the move on the following lap to demote the Hitech TGR driver to seventh position.
Lap 18 and contact between Nicola Lacorte and Brando Badoer resulted in the PREMA Racing driver getting stuck in the gravel trap at Turn 1, bringing out the Safety Car once more.
Racing resumed on Lap 21 and van Hoepen was under pressure from Nael in the podium battle. The Frenchman pulled off a brave overtake on the outside of turn 1 to move up to second.
Their fighting allowed Camara to escape up the road and out of DRS range and he went on to claim win number three of 2025 for Trident.
The full top 10 are- P1: Camara, P2: Nael, P3: Giusti, P4: Van Hoepen, P5: Tsolov, P6: Domingues, P7: Tramnitz, P8: Stromsted, P9: Stenshorne and P10: Voisin.
Rafael Camara made a bright start to the Barcelona weekend, setting a 1:29.024 to finish up as the quickest driver in Free Practice for Trident.
The Brazilian logged his best effort on his attempt, and finished the session 0.3s quicker than closest challenger Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport. Home hero, Mari Boya was third for Campos Racing.
Teams looked to maximise their track time with relevant running in the only session ahead of Qualifying, so opted to wait before getting serious running underway.
With his first lap of the day, Camara set the time to beat with a 1:29.024 in the Trident, while Giusti slotted into second, 0.322s down on the Championship leader.
Boya made a strong start to his home weekend as he went third-quickest in his Campos, while Martinius Stenshorne and Tim Tramnitz rounded out the top five after the first round of laps.
Trident remained on track, while everyone returned to the pitlane with just over 10 minutes to go, and Charlie Wurz improved to go fourth on a 1:29.615.
With tyre life at a premium in hot conditions, there were very few improvements after the first set of laps in the closing minutes.
Qualifying-
Rafael Camara was in formidable form in Barcelona Qualifying, taking his fourth pole position in the opening five rounds of the 2025 season.
The Trident driver set a 1:28.761 for the top spot, 0.2s clear of Campos Racing’s Nikola Tsolov and ART Grand Prix driver Laurens van Hoepen in third.
The battle for track position started immediately as drivers sought the ideal place to gain a tow but avoid traffic ahead of them. Eventually Noah Stromsted won a place at the front of the queue with Trident teammate Rafael Camara right behind them.
The Trident pair completed their laps, but they were instantly beaten by Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak on a 1:29.433 who set the early benchmark.
Tuukka Taponen beat that on his first flying lap as ART Grand Prix opted to run their trio off sequence and later than the rest. The Finn pipped Inthraphuvasak by 0.042s, as teammate James Wharton slotted into third place.
Track limits became a big factor as drivers returned to the pitlane, with several drivers losing their original times for exceeding track limits. Tim Tramnitz was one of those along with Tsolov, leaving both without a lap going into the second runs.
Tsolov delivered a time good enough for P4 to kick off second round of laptimes, but Camara behind was flying.
A 1:28.671 put him on provisional pole ahead of the ART’s van Hoepen, while Alessandro Giusti and Tramnitz followed in third and fourth.
Into the final runs, Camara told his team he’d wait to head back out in order to get a clean track, while his rivals rejoined the circuit to try and dislodge him for P1.
But nobody could prevent Camara from sealing his fourth pole of the season. Tsolov and van Hoepen were his closest challengers in second and third after the Campos driver improved on his last attempt.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Camara, P2: Tsolov, P3: van Hoepen, P4: Nael, P5: Ramos, P6: Giusti, P7: Domingues, P8: Stromsted, P9: Taponen and P10: Tramnitz.
Rafael Camara made a positive start to his Imola weekend by topping the timesheets in Free Practice. The Trident driver’s 1:33.091 proved the time to beat ahead of the MP Motorsport duo of Alessandro Giusti and Tim Tramnitz.
Domingues improved to a 1:34.891 but was followed across the line by PREMA Racing’s Noel Leon, who went fastest on a 1:34.740.
Nicola Lacorte set the pace at his home race with a 1:35.682 early on for DAMS Lucas Oil, before the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, Ivan Domnigues, pushed him down to P2 with a 1:35.564.
Track conditions continued to improve and the laps got faster still, and this time it was Brando Badoer on top for PREMA with a 1:34.162, a tenth quicker than his teammate Leon.
But then came the Championship leader, Camara, and he went fastest on a 1:33.433, the Trident driver over seven-tenths faster than Badoer. However, Camara was joined in the top two by Giusti. The MP rookie went to second, 0.245s behind, with Stenshorne third.
Camara continued to improve and lowered the time to beat to a 1:33.353. Tramnitz was right behind the Brazilian at the line and wound up 0.254s off P1.
After a quick trip to the pit lane, the drivers were back out on the track and Camara again improved to a 1:33.091. However, Giusti was even closer this time around, just 0.074s behind his Trident rival.
The Red Flags were out with less than three minutes to go, after Ugo Ugochukwu spun into the gravel at the exit of the Villeneuve chicane, before making slight contact with the barrier.
With not much time left, the session was not resumed with Camara fastest ahead of the MP pairing of Giusti and Tramnitz.
Qualifying-
Rafael Camara made it three consecutive pole positions to start the 2025 season after leaving it late to take the top spot from Van Amersfoort’s Santiago Ramos at a dramatic Imola Qualifying.
The Trident driver completed a 1:32.206 with his final lap of the day to take pole, beating Ramos by over two-tenths, with his teammate Noah Stromsted ending up thrd.
Camaraa picked up from where he left off in Free Practice to go up to P1 early on.
Several drivers were able to improve on their next flying attempts, but the majority of the grid opted to abort those laps, choosing to pit for a second set of medium tyres instead.
With just over 16 minutes remaining, the drivers returned to the track and there were improvements across the board, as several climbed up the timesheets.
But it was Badoer who went fastest on a 1:32.894, to eclipse Camara by just 0.015s. The Italian completed his lap at the right time as the Red Flags were waved moments later, with Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak stuck in the gravel at Acque Minerali.
Running resumed with just over 11 minutes to go and 25 out of remaining 29 drivers went out, as all three Trident drivers remained in the pit lane alongside Callum Voisin.
As the times came through, Ramos went fastest on a 1:32.442 for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Tuukka Taponen his closest challenger in P2, 0.092s.
But as they completed their laps, the quartet in the pit lane returned to the track, and Camara completed his final attempt to go to provisional pole with a 1:32.306.
The Brazilian beat Ramos by 0.236s to seal the first Aramco Pole Position Award as Stromsted also left it late to go to third.
It was a terrific start for the pole-sitter Joshua Dufek who kept a hold of the lead, but AIX’s Slater got ahead of Martinius Stenshorne for P2 at Turn 4 after starting third.
Behind them, Tsolov got ahead of Alessandro Giusti for P4, while Championship leader Rafael Camara had a slow start from P12 and dropped to the back of the field.
Onto lap 2, Slater closed in on Dufek before making a move for the lead at Turn 1. Behind them, Tsolov continued his fine start, overtaking Stenshorne for third at the same corner.
The Safety Car was called upon at the start of Lap 4, PREMA Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu stopped at Turn 2 after colliding with his teammate Brando Badoer, who pitted with a puncture.
Racing then resumed on lap 7 and Tsolov was flying once again, diving to the inside of Dufek for P2 at Turn 1. The battles intensified on lap 9 as Tsolov again dived to the inside at Turn 1, this time on Slater for the race lead. However, the Campos driver went in too deep allowing the Briton to retake the lead.
Just behind the pair, the battle for P3 was heating up as Dufek, Stenshorne and Taponen almost went three-wide into Turn 4. The latter two eventually made their way past at Turn 10 and 11, with Giusti following them through a few corners later at Turn 1.
Further up the road, Slater and Tsolov were going wheel to wheel once more. The Bulgarian dived down the AIX driver at Turns 4 and 8, but on both occasions, the debutant retook the lead.
However, Tsolov eventually made a move stick with the help of DRS and dived down the inside at Turn 1 again. Behind them, Taponen was now ahead of Stenshorne for P3.
At the start of lap 13 of 19, the top three had begun to separate themselves out in front, while Stenshorne was coming under attack from Giusti and Callum Voisin for P4.
Giusti then went side by side with Stenshorne into Turn 6 and 7, but the MP Motorsport driver had the door closed, putting him into the clutches of Voisin, who made a move past at Turn 11.
On lap 15 of 19, the Safety Car was called upon, with Dufek and Ivan Domingues colliding at Turn 1, causing both drivers to stop by the side of the road.
We returned to green flag conditions at the start of Lap 18, and Slater was right on the back of Tsolov, but the Campos driver resisted all his overtaking attempts. Onto the final lap, Taponen looked to make a move on Slater into Turn 1 but could not make it stick. Tsolov though was able to pull away out in front and went on to claim a record-equalling fourth victory in FIA Formula 3.
The full top 10 are- P1: Tsolov, P2: Slater, P3: Taponen, P4: Voisin, P5: Stenshorne, P6: Tramnitz, P7: Giusti, P8: Ho, P9: Wurz and P10: Stromsted.
Day 3-
It was a great start for Voisin who got ahead of Camara on the brakes at Turn 1, while Charlie Wurz kept a hold of third ahead of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho.
Tuukka Taponen was also on the move for ART Grand Prix. From sixth, he got ahead of Bruno del Pino at the start, before overtaking Ho for fourth into Turn 4 on Lap 2.
Onto Lap 3, Camara and Wurz had closed in on the back of Voisin, with the former using DRS to get ahead into Turn 1. However, the Rodin driver’s switchback move got him back ahead at Turn 4.
Camara eventually got ahead on Lap 5, making the same move on Voisin at Turn 1, the Brit unable to get ahead at Turn 4 this time despite his attempts to do so. Wurz and Taponen were now battling for P3, allowing Voisin and Camara to disappear up the road.
Further behind, Alessandro Giusti got himself ahead of Noel Leon for P11 at the same corner. He made a similar move at Turn 1 on the following lap on another PREMA Racing driver, Brando Badoer for P10.
Trident then came on the radio to tell Wurz to stay with Taponen, but at the same time, his teammate Noah Stromsted was coming under threat from Ho and Tramnitz for P5.
The Dane fended off Ho, before the DAMS driver ran wide at Turn 2. This opened the door for Tramnitz to get ahead on the run to Turn 4. On the next lap, the Singaporean lost another position to Nikola Tsolov at the next corner.
Another driver showing tremendous pace was Mari Boya. The Campos driver overtook Badoer for P11 after starting the race down in 20th. Tramnitz and Tsolov then got ahead of Stromsted for fifth and sixth, while Giusti overtook his MP teammate del Pino for P9.
As lap 14 of 22 started, Camara was three and a half seconds clear of Voisin, who was 2.4s in front of Taponen. A DRS train had now formed behind the ART driver, with Wurz, Tramnitz, Tsolov and Stromsted all in the fight for the podium.
After trying for several laps to get ahead of Wurz, Tramnitz eventually got ahead of the Trident driver by going round the outside at Turn 4 on Lap 17.
Taponen had been able to pull out a one second advantage due to the fighting behind him, but Tramnitz closed the gap before pulling off another move round the outside at Turn 4 on lap 19 for third.
Wurz had now dropped to P6 after being overtaken by Tsolov, and was coming under attack from his teammate, Stromsted.
Out in front though, Camara was over six seconds clear across the line as he went on to win his second feature race of the season. Voisin finished in P2 and Tramnitz ended up third for MP.
The full top 10 are- P1: Camara, P2: Voisin, P3: Tramnitz, P4: Taponen, P5: Tsolov, P6: Stromsted, P7: Giusti, P8: Boya, P9: Del Pino and P10: Ho.
Trident’s Rafael Camara picked up where he left off in Melbourne to set the pace in the opening session in Sakhir, his 1:50.984 the fastest time of Free Practice.
The Brazilian driver eclipsed Nikola Tsolov’s early benchmark time by 0.127s to end up fastest ahead of his Campos Racing rival, while ART Grand Prix rookie Tuukka Taponen rounded out the top three.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues had the track to himself early on as the rest of the field waited in the pit lane. He set a 1:52.776 to complete the first push lap of the session.
Action started to ramp up with 15 minutes to go as one by one all 30 cars started to head back out onto the circuit. After the first set of push laps, it was Tsolov that set the pace with a 1:51.111, with Rodin Motorsport rookie Roman Bilinski 0.312s behind in P2.
However, Tsolov was down to second as Camara went top on a 1:50.984, putting the Brazilian 0.127s clear in front.
Fellow rookie Taponen went third for ART, over two-tenths back from the leading time, as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos jumped up to fourth.
The drivers continued to set their best times up until the chequered flag as MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti ended up in P5 ahead of Charlie Wurz and Bilinski.
Qualifying-
Rafael Camara was the one to beat once again, as the Trident driver took his second consecutive pole position of the season, beating out Callum Voisin in an action packed Sakhir Qualifying.
A closely fought encounter between the pair, the Brazilian’s late 1:49.214 was enough for P1, while the Rodin Motorsport driver ended up 0.156s down in second, with Trident’s Charlie Wurz in third.
It was Nikola Tsolov that set the early benchmark though of 1:50.506, putting the Campos Racing driver 0.169s clear of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho, with James Wharton just behind in P3.
The entire field was back in the pit lane with 18 minutes left in the session, but after a quick change of tyres, they were out on track for the second set of push laps on their new rubber.
There were plenty of improvements and on this occasion, it was Voisin on provisional pole, thanks to a 1:49.882, putting him just 0.023s ahead of MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti.
Camara went to third ahead of Tsolov this time around, before the drivers returned to the pit lane to put on another new set of tyres.
Setting his lap earlier than the rest of the field, Camara went to P1 with a 1:49.214. Voisin set the fastest first sector but could not overhaul the Trident driver and ended up second, 0.156s down.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Camara, P2: Voisin, P3: Wurz, P4: Ho, P5: del Pino, P6: Taponen, P7: Stromsted, P8: Tsolov, P9: Giusti and P10: Slater.
Ramos held firm into Turn 1, but Bilinski had to fight back past Stenshorne with a late dive into Turn 4 having lots out in the first corner to the Hitech TGR driver. It also opened the door for Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to follow through, but their fight was far from over.
The Rodin then swept by Matias Zagazeta for second into Turn 9, but waiting in the wings, Inthraphuvasak, went into third around the outside into the chicane. Stenshorne fired back before the end lap, re-passing the pair into Turn 11 to move back into second, while Inthraphuvasak lost out to Zagazeta for fourth before the end of the lap.
A Virtual Safety Car was called upon as the second tour began. Charlie Wurz’s Trident in need of recovering after stopping at Turn 5.
Back to green flag racing on Lap 3, Tramnitz was tucked in the slipstream of Inthraphuvasak and he took fifth with an around-the-outside pass at Turn 9.
The Safety Car was called upon in short order though, Rafael Camara and Laurens van Hoepen both in the gravel at Turn 12 following contact with James Wharton, who also retired at the end of the lap with suspension damage.
Tramnitz had been up to fifth after passing Inthraphuvasak before the Safety Car. But an apparent issue under the Safety Car forced him to slow and drop to the back, before he eventually retired from the Sprint.
Racing got back underway entering Lap 9, with Ramos holding on to his lead from Stenshorne, Bilinski, Zagazeta and Inthraphuvasak in the top five, as they broke away from the rest of the pack.
On Lap 13, Stenshorne got a good run into Turn 11 and forced the Mexican driver to defend the corner, but he couldn’t find a route through. At the back of the leading queue, Inthraphuvasak made a pass stick on Zagazeta into Turn 1 to claim fourth on Lap 15. But their battling allowed the top three to escape three seconds up the road.
Another Safety Car was called upon with five laps to go after contact between Bruno Del Pino and Javier Sagrera into Turn 6, leaving both in the gravel.
The clean up operation meant that there was not enough time to get back to green flag racing, allowing Ramos to lead the field over the line for his first F3 win.
The full top 10 are- P1: Ramos, P2: Stenshorne, P3: Bilinksi, P4: Inthraphuvasak, P5: Zagazeta, P6: Bedrin, P7: Nael, P8: Tsolov, P9: Voisin and P10: Leon.
Day 3-
After several formation laps behind the Safety Car, racing got underway in the Feature Race with a rolling start, and pole sitter Camara launched into a sizeable lead over Stromsted.
The Safety Car was called upon before the end of the first lap however, with Nikola Tsolov and Callum Voisin off the road at Turn 10.
Back to racing conditions entering Lap 6, Camara re-established a healthy gap back to Stromsted in second.
McLaren Development Drivers Ugo Ugochukwu and Martinius Stenshorne went into battle on Lap 8 at Turn 4, the Norwegian slicing his way by the PREMA Racing for P8. Ugochukwu lost another place on Lap 9 to Roman Bilinski after running wide at Turn 11, opening the door for the Rodin Motorsport driver to go through for ninth.
The rain intensity picked up on Lap 11, making things even trickier for the drivers as they fought through the spray, though Camara was taking full advantage of his clear view, five seconds clear of the pack.
The Safety Car was back out on Lap 13, with DAMS Lucas Oil driver Christian Ho in the barriers at Turn 7.
After several laps behind the Safety Car, the Red Flags were thrown on Lap 18 of 20, and with the weather not improving, the Feature Race was called.
The full top 10 are- P1: Camara, P2: Stromsted, P3: Nael, P4: Bedrin, P5: Tramnitz, P6: Wurz, P7: Inthraphuvasak, P8: Stenshorne, P9: Bilinski and P10: Ugochukwu.
Rafael Camara and Trident started 2025 on the front foot, going quickest in Free Practice around the Albert Park circuit.
The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy talent set a 1:34,652 just before a red flag stopped the session later on. He finished ahead of MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz in second and Mari Boya of Campos Racing in third.
It was Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp who got the ball rolling by setting a 1:38.676 and the early time to beat, before lowering that to a 1:37.009 on his next attempt.
Teammate, Roman Bilinski improved on that effort, but Hitech TGR driver, Joshua Dufek set the next benchmark time, 1:36.384 putting him 0.2s ahead of the Rodin in second position. He then lowered his best on the following lap to go onto a 1:35.402.
Mari Boya joined him shortly afterwards, moving himself up to second, just 0.007s adrift of Camara, while his Campos Racing teammate Nikola Tsolov went third quickest behind him.
Tramnitz then took over at the top next for MP, 1L34.892 good enough to better the Brazilian by 0.009s, as the session ticked to the final 15 minutes.
There was one final change of the leaderboard with Camara saving his best effort for last and setting a 1:34.652 to retake top spot. But the session came to an early end as Louis Sharp stopped on the track ahead of Turn 4 bringing out the Red Flags with five minutes to go.
Qualifying-
It was a perfect Friday in Melbourne for Rafael Camara as he topped both Practice and Qualifying, earning the first pole position of 2025. He set a 1:34.999 to lead teammate Noah Stromsted in a great day for Trident. Theophile Nael wound up third, but ended the session under investigation for an unsafe release.
Installation laps complete and it was Roman Bilinksi that set the benchmark time initially with a 1:36.125 for Rodin Motorsport.
Two purple sectors by Camara put him in contention until he caught traffic in the final sector and instead slotted into second less than a tenth back. Trident teammate Stromsted then went fastest overall to become the first driver in the 1:35s in qualifying.
Nikita Bedrin put AIX Racing top of the pile with 10 minutes gone, 1:35.873 the fastest time to beat, while Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Ugo Ugochukwu improved to go into the top five in third and fourth respectively.
After waiting for clear track, MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz moved into contention to go third fastest, before Camara strung together a traffic-free lap to storm to P1, half a second clear of anybody else.
With under 10 minutes to go, the majority of the field then returned to the circuit on fresh tyres for their final attempts of the session.
There was only five minutes left on the clock when Brando Badoer found the barriers on the exit of Turn 2, requiring a red flag to remove his car from the track.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Camara, P2: Stromsted, P3: Nael, P4: Bedrin, P5: Tramnitz, P6: Wurz, P7: Inthraphuvasak, P8: Ugochukwu, P9: Stenshorne and P10: Bilinski.
Trident have become the first team to finalise their 2025 Formula 3 line-up as they have announced that Rafael Camara would be racing for them next season.
Camara makes the step up to F3 after a title winning campaign in the Formula Regional European Championship, where he has recorded 10 podiums which includes six victories.
Prior to that, the Brazilian driver had several title successes in karting before graduating to single seater racing in 2022. That year, he finished second in the Formula 4 UAE Championship and third in both the Italian F4 and ADAC F4 categories.
In 2023, he finished third in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship and fifth in his rookie Formula Regional European campagin. He then returned to both categories this year, and after finishing third in this year’s Formula Regional Middle East Championship, the Scuderia Ferrari junior went on to win the FRECA title.
I’m very happy to join Trident, it is such a great Team and it’s very nice to be part of it. I can’t wait to start working with everyone and see what we can achieve together. Of course the expectations are high, I think next year we will for sure be targeting to fight for the championship. I know it will not be easy and we still need to do a lot of work for the moment as it is not only a new car but also a new team, so everything will be new for me. As I said, I can’t wait to start to work. I always want to win but we keep our head down and we do the best we can. My goal is to be prepared for the beginning of the season, to do a good job with the team and do the best I can, always, and be on the top with Trident. Camara on the news.
We are extremely happy and proud to announce that Rafael Câmara will be part of our line-up for the 2025 season. He is an undeniably talented driver, the reigning champion of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, as well as a Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy driver, and we are truly proud to have him with us. Additionally, we are excited to renew our relationship with the FDA program and its drivers. Giacomo Ricci, Trident Team Manager.
Jordan's Track Talk 