The F3 Hungarian GP Feature Race is up next, and following Saturday’s chaotic Sprint Race, we should expect no different today. Rafael Câmara leads the Championship, and can potentially walk away crowned Champion today. So long as Câmara’s gap to P2 is 40 points, he will be crowned Champion.
Our Championship leader kicks off from pole position, boosting his chances to take the Championship. Lined up beside him is Campos Racing’s Mari Boya, with Tuukka Taponen and Gerrard Xie on the second row. Closing out the top ten on the starting grid is Theophile Nael, Charlie Wurz, Ugo Ugochukwu, Brando Badoer, Alessandro Giusti, and finally James Wharton.
LIGHTS OUT!
As expected, the conditions were wet, and the Feature Race started on a fairly wet track. The race started with a rolling start, and Rafael Câmara led the pack through Turn 1. Boya stuck close on his rear. By Turn 3, Câmara had built a gap on Boya. A yellow flag briefly waved, but the green lag flew again quickly. Voisin and Del Pino were under investigation for causing a collision. This resulted in a 5s penalty for Voisin.
Tramnitz spun off of the road, dropping down to P25, and taking himself out of the Championship fight. Ugochukwu looked to the outside of Nael through Turn 1, eventually getting past him by Turn 3. By Lap 2, Câmara had pulled 1.4s ahead of Boya. Inthraphuvasak moved up on Strømsted, and promptly looked to overtake Wharton.
At the end of Lap 2, Boya had quickly closed the gap to Câmara, now 0.6s behind. DRS was enabled for Lap 3. A yellow flag waved, as Benavides and Bilinski dropped down the order, a Safety Car then sent on track. Benavides was found facing the wrong direction through Turn 13, after clipping Bilinski mid-slide. Benavides got out of his car, while Bilinski continued on. Race Control noted this incident for causing a collision.
The Safety Car retreats to the pit lane
The Safety Car retreated to the pit lane at the conclusion of Lap 6. Câmara had a great restart, but Boya got one just as good. Ugochukwu ran wide through Turn 1, managing his position and continuing on. Ugochukwu and Xie came together through Turn 4, both were unable to get going again, bringing out another Safety Car. This collision went under investigation, Xie gained a 10s penalty.
Tramnitz and Zagazeta were noted by Race Control for Safety Car infringements. The Safety Car retreated to the pit lane once again, at the conclusion of Lap 10. Câmara got a great restart again, Boya arguably getting a better one before dropping back. Wurz ran wide through the final corner, narrowly missing Nael.
Van Hoepen moved up on Hedley, Tsolov also getting past Hedley moments later. By Lap 11, Tsolov had moved up from P21, to P11. Leon ran wide through the chicane. Tsolov and Van Hoepen both moved past Inthrphuvasak, Tsolov ahead of Van Hoepen.
Leon and Hedley made contact, resulting in Hedley spinning. This brought out a brief yellow flag, before he got going again. Tsolov overtook yet another driver, knocking off Strømsted to take P6. Strømsted had a slide, Inthraphuvasak capitalising on this to take P11.
12 laps down, a further 12 to go
Lap 13 began, and Sharp made his was past Strømsted also. Van Hoepen had a slide through Turn 4, miraculously continuing on. Tsolov moved past Wharton to take P8. Hedley and Leon are noted for their previous contact. Leon gained a penalty. Tsolov made a run down to Turn 1 to overtake Giusti, climbing further up to P7.
Strømsted ran wide through Turn 1. Zagazeta and Domingues made contact, both continuing on. Strømsted and Sharp battled hard, Strømsted ending madly off the road. Tsolov overtook Badoer through the final corner, now up to P6 from P21.
The race switched over to a timer, with 13 minutes remaining on the clock, losing roughly a single lap. Boya earned the fastest lap, finally encroaching into Câmara’s DRS. Strømsted dove around Wharton into Turn 1, taking P12. Stenshorne was called into the pit lane to switch to slick tyres. Del Pino also entered the pit lane.
A yellow flag waved briefly, after Marinangeli spun, he got going again and we returned to green. Another yellow flag waved moments later, when Del Pino slid through Turn 5 on medium tyres. Wharton also pitted.
Three minutes remained, and Câmara had just over a 1s gap on Boya. Tsolov was well into the DRS of Nael, desperate to get around. Taponen and Wurz went side by side, sliding all over, Taponen came out on top. With a minute left on the clock, Câmara had extended his lead to 2.2s.
The clock ran out of time, a singular lap remained. After absolutely dominating the final lap, Rafael Câmara cross the chequered flag first. He not only took the win, but was crowned the 2025 Formula Champion. Boya and Taponen came home behind to complete the podium.
Results
1 | R. Câmara
2 | M. Boya
3 | T. Taponen
4 | C. Wurz
5 | T. Nael
6 | N. Tsolov
7 | B. Badoer
8 | L. Van Hoepen
9 | A. Giusti
10 | T. Inthraphuvasak
11 | L. Sharp
12 | N. Strømsted
13 | T. Tramnitz
14 | C. Voisin
15 | N. Leon
16 | R. Bilinski
17 | M. Zagazeta
18 | N. Lacorte
19 | S. Ramos
20 | C. Ho
21 | N. Johnson
22 | J. Hedley
23 | N. Marinangeli
24 | I. Domingues
25 | B. Del Pino
26 | M. Stenshorne
27 | DNF J. Wharton
28 | DNF G. Xie
29 | DNF U. Ugochukwu
30 | DNF B. Benavides
