Ferrari F1 junior Rafael Camara reflects on his FIA F3 title win with a round to spare, as he goes through the highs/lows and F2 future.
TRIDENT’s Rafael Camara became the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Champion with a dominant performance from pole in the Budapest Feature Race. With the title sealed ahead of the summer break and with a round to go, the Brazilian reflects on it all, from the intensity of Round 9 to dealing with the pressures of the season.
PRESSURE IN BUDAPEST
“It was a very intense weekend. Since FP, we knew we needed to be straight on the pace, and straight into a good mindset. I think we managed to do everything very well. Quali was very stressful, especially on the last lap, but we had a good Sprint Race for the Championship and today it was a very good race. In the beginning, Mari was very close trying to get by into Turn 2. But in the end, we managed to keep a good distance. We managed the tyres, and we managed to do some good laps at the end.”
THE TITLE-WINNING FEELING
“I am very happy. We won the Championship, so I am super happy with the job we did. Since the beginning of the Championship, we have been in a good place, in a good spot, and from then we always managed to keep the hard work intense and in good shape and always at a high level. We never relaxed, but now we can relax, enjoy the moment and then everyone will go for a holidays. It will be nice to have the summer break, because we need it, but very happy. Now I will disconnect from racing, recharge and then when we come back for Monza. Even though we have won the Championship, I will try to do my best, and fight for another pole and victory. The Teams’ Championship is very close so I will try my best to help them, and hopefully we can bring that home.”
DEALING WITH THE PRESSURE
“We are always under pressure because you can never do a lot of mistakes. Even when you make one it’s difficult to keep up the momentum. But you have to stay positive, even when things are going well, you are working well, working hard, and that’s what we did. Sometimes the gap is closer, sometimes we had a bit of margin, but in the end, we managed to be consistent and it’s what we needed to do to win the Championship. I am also proud of myself that every time I was under pressure, at the beginning of the year, when there was pressure, I would perform well. So, it’s good for me to see the improvements I am doing, it’s going to keep me motivated to keep going and I will try to keep going and come back stronger for Monza and also next year.”
Full Q&A –
FIA Formula 3: First of all, congratulations Rafa, 2025 FIA Formula 3 Champion, just how does that sound?
Rafael Camara: “I’m very happy. All the hard work we did all season has paid off, so super happy. It’s a time where we can finally relax a bit because all season, regardless of if you are losing or if you’re winning you always keep working hard. You always focus on the things that you can improve, you never really enjoy the moment even if you’re winning or losing, you just try to keep the focus very high and never leave anything on the table. So, to finally relax is very good and also after you feel very tired because it has been a very long journey and now, I can enjoy a bit with the team and with everyone.
“They deserve so much. What they did for me was something amazing. All the hard work the team was doing before the season already from last year. Obviously, the new car was a big question mark, and how we were going to start the season. After Australia it was a big relief for me and the team, we knew we were going the right way and now it’s time to enjoy a bit.”
FIA Formula 3: You say there’s a bit of a question mark there but if we look at your stats for this season so far as well with one round still to go you have got four wins, five podiums, five pole positions and four fastest laps that got you points with today as well. Going into your rookie F3 season were you expecting to be this strong?
Camara: “Obviously no. I mean it was a big surprise. I think after all the preparation we did obviously you always want to win, you always go into a Championship thinking that you can win the Championship, thinking that you’re going to fight for what you can. But I was never expecting to start how we started in Australia. It was almost a perfect weekend, apart from the Sprint Races, but I think like I said after Australia I knew we were in a good place, and I just needed to keep myself always in a good spot with the team. With myself as well, I had to understand what I needed to do each weekend. Making sure I’m always consistent, as a rookie I think it was a very good year, and I will try to focus now for Monza and finish on a high.”
FIA Formula 3: One of those stats I want to just focus on is the five pole positions from nine Qualifying sessions so far. You hit the ground running in Qualifying, what was the strength that you found you had against your rivals in Qualifying? Do you think that was crucial in this Championship victory?
Camara: “The only thing that is a bit different in Formula 3 compared to the other categories is that you are very limited in lap time. Sometimes you are not even fully on the limit in quali, especially in some races where we had a different compound from FP to quali where you don’t even know where the grip is. But understanding where the limit is and being fast straight away is a strong point on my side, as every time on the first runs we already had good pace and when you start already with good pace, it is much easier to set up what the car needs to improve. I also feel as the driver, it’s just more simple for what you need to do each run, and I think that’s why quali has been so strong.”
FIA Formula 3: You also took the lead of the Drivers’ Championship from Round 1, but was there any points where you had doubts about your title hopes?
Camara: “Everything can change so quickly, so you never relax. You know you are first but as you see on the Standings, sometimes I was fighting with one driver, sometimes it was another driver, every time it was changing. I always try to keep it clean, do a good job, don’t get involved in any crashes and be consistent. Even with that, sometimes we were further than P2, sometimes we were very close.
“We had a bit of luck, for example Austria unfortunately Nikola Tsolov got a disqualification, otherwise it would be much tighter. In Spa we got a bit unlucky that we couldn’t race, as it was a race I could have scored many points. It’s how it goes. A Championship is always very tricky, everything can change very quickly, you just have to make sure you are always in the right mindset.”
FIA Formula 3: I want to focus on the team you are driving for. You become the third TRIDENT driver to win the Formula 3 Championship in a row, after Gabriel Bortoleto and Leonardo Fornaroli, what is it about this team that helps get the best out of its drivers do you think?
Camara: “All the preparation that we did. Probably it was the same with Gabri and Forna. The way we prepared for the season, how much work they put into this Championship, especially the engineers, they work almost every day. This makes us drivers more calm, more confident that we are in a good environment. The team is pretty much like a family, everyone has been together for I think more than 10 years, everyone knows each other. My group, my team, that is my mechanics and my engineer is the same that Gabi had. It was super nice to work with them.
“For sure I will miss them next year because it was such a great season, a great time I had with them. Since the post-season tests of last year, I already had a very good feeling with them. Even the test was already good, we were already fast. I was a bit scared for this year because everything can change, and I knew it was good before. I’m very thankful for everything they have done for me, my Team Manager Giacomo, my engineer Andrea, my mechanics, they were amazing this year, and I am very happy to be a part of this team.”
FIA Formula 3: You have one more round with them to come in Monza, but beyond that what’s next for the Formula 3 Champion?
Camara: “Well next will be a bit of holidays. Enjoy Brazil with my family and friends, it’s good to win one round in advance because finally we can relax. After Monza, for sure it will be Formula 2 next year. Then there will be a big break until the tests, I will just focus on myself to make sure that I am well prepared when I go to drive. Hopefully I can have another strong season.”
[The story is as per press release]
