Brad Benavides’ 2025 FIA Formula 3 campaign has been short but eventful. Rejoining the championship in Round 3 at Imola, the AIX Racing driver quickly made his mark with a standout performance in Austria, where he qualified P2 and went on to score his first points of the season with a ninth-place finish in the Feature Race. He delivered his strongest performance at Spa-Francorchamps, where he secured his maiden pole position. However, extreme weather conditions led to the cancellation of the Feature Race, denying him the opportunity to convert that result into a potential podium or win. Now, coming into 2025 Hungarian GP weekend, Benavides sits 26th in the F3 standings with four points.
With just two rounds left and a month-long break ahead, the AIX Racing driver is aiming to build on his recent momentum at a circuit he describes as “very technical” and one he thoroughly enjoys. The Hungaroring presents both opportunity and challenge — a tight, twisty layout with limited overtaking zones and potential for wet conditions once again.
Speaking during the a Thursday media session, attended by Pit Debrief, Benavides touched on several key topics: the psychological and competitive impact of missing out on racing in Spa, his mindset heading into a weekend with mixed weather forecasts, his expectations around track limits in Budapest, and whether a repeat of his top-three qualifying performances is within reach.
Balancing expectations before the summer break
With a one-month break following the Budapest round at the Hungarian GP and only one round left in the 2025 F3 season, several drivers have highlighted the importance of delivering a strong performance at the Hungaroring. For many, the Hungarian GP weekend represents a final opportunity to build momentum, impress team bosses, and secure results before the long summer pause.
Brad Benavides, however, approaches the weekend from a slightly different perspective. Currently sitting 26th in the standings with four points, the AIX Racing driver is well out of title contention. Nevertheless, he recognises the psychological and performance-based implications that this round may carry for those fighting at the front — and even for himself, in terms of setting the tone for the season finale.
“Well, similar to what Nikola said, every race weekend has its focus of its own,” Benavides explained in the press conference. “And I guess [it’s a] only once you get to that bridge, then you cross it, right, kind of thing. And obviously the rebound effect of how a weekend like this might go, [into] the summer could give, I guess, a negative or a positive effect, if you will.”
While others may be navigating the pressure of championship implications or contractual prospects, Benavides suggested that his position in the standings alleviates some of that burden.
“But I’m not really that much in contention in the championship,” he continued. “So, to me, you know, it doesn’t really make that much of a difference in terms of, you know, the practical side of it. But that’s pretty much it, yeah.”
Still, with his maiden F3 pole position coming at Spa and a ninth-place finish in Austria, Benavides will be looking to continue building positive momentum regardless.
Forecasted rain and strategic adjustments
While not facing the same level of pressure as the F3 championship contenders, Benavides will not have an easy weekend as fights for points at the 2025 Hungarian GP. The weather forecast once again points to the possibility of rain affecting Sunday’s Feature Race at the Hungaroring. This follows a string of wet weekends in the 2025 F3 season — most notably at Spa-Francorchamps, where the Feature Race was cancelled due to severe conditions.
The rain came out to play and brought our #F3 Feature Race to an early close… ☔️⛈️#BelgianGP pic.twitter.com/Q6wrRjQ2G9
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) July 27, 2025
For Brad Benavides, the uncertainty around weather adds a layer of complexity to both strategy and mindset heading into the weekend.
“I mean, I wish I had like a crystal ball, right? So, I can know if they’re going to cancel the Feature Race or not,” he said with a laugh. “So, this time, at least I’d aim for a reverse pole. You know what I mean? Like going to my lap, look at my delta, I was like, oh, break just before the finish line. So, I’m four-tenths down. No, I don’t know. I’m just kidding, obviously.”
While his humour highlighted the unpredictability of changing conditions, Benavides was clear about the serious implications rain could have on qualifying and race day. The tight and twisty layout of the Hungaroring already offers few overtaking opportunities, and wet weather only amplifies that challenge.
“But yeah, similar to what Sandro [Giusti] said on the technical aspect of it, definitely [some pressure], especially here in this track, which is already difficult to overtake on top of it being wet, then, you know, with the spray, that’s it.”
“Like you go on pole [and] even if you’re three seconds slower per lap, you’re still winning the race. So obviously, the target is to be up there in quali.”
“Let’s just hope we can race,” he added.
Track limits remain under scrutiny
Track limits were a recurring issue during the 2024 Hungarian round, and the topic resurfaced ahead of this year’s event. With the Hungaroring’s tight layout and several high-speed exits, enforcement can become a key factor in both qualifying and race results. During the Thursday media event ahead of the 2025 Hungarian GP, Pit Debrief asked Benavides whether expected to be similarly challenged by track limits over the F3 weekend.
“Well, to be fair, I thought that Spa wasn’t going to be a place where I was going to be seeing a lot of track limits of other drivers,” he said. “But apparently, Freddie Slater was like 20 times off track and had like a five-over penalty. So here, I guess T4 and T11 is more prone to having track limits than, for example, Pouhon at Spa. But apparently, yeah, for others, Spa was more of a problem so we’ll see how it’s like here.”
Aware of how damaging a deleted lap can be in qualifying — particularly at a circuit like Budapest where overtaking is notoriously difficult — Benavides explained how he’s preparing to avoid exceeding track limits.
“But similarly to [what] Nikola said, I try to test to have as much confidence, conviction as to my abilities to keep it on the track. So hopefully, fingers crossed, those two corners that I think are most prone to track limits, I’ll keep it under control and not have any lap deleted or anything.”
He added with a grin: “And hopefully, everybody else gets their lap deleted. So I’m good. I’m just kidding.”
Reaction to Spa pole position and lost race opportunity
At the previous round in Spa, Brad Benavides achieved a major career milestone by securing his first-ever pole position in F3. However, persistent heavy rain and poor visibility forced organisers to cancel the Feature Race, preventing Benavides from starting. Although the outcome was frustrating, he emphasised that everyone in the garage shared the disappointment.
“Well, this is a team effort. And through the highs and the lows, we win or we lose together.”
Though visibly disheartened by the missed opportunity, the AIX Racing driver made a conscious effort to stay optimistic for the sake of the team’s morale.
“To me, it was a bit sad, obviously, to not even having gotten the opportunity. But my team didn’t either, you know, and I want to be as best as a leader that I can be,” he explained. “And so I didn’t want to, you know, reflect or sprinkle off, I guess, pessimism or I guess, just like sorrow, you know, or cynicism or anything to them. So I try to, you know, get back up as quickly as possible.”
Benavides acknowledged that some factors lie entirely outside a team or driver’s control — with weather being one of them.
“And, you know, at the end of the day, Mother Nature has a mind of its own. And there’s just things that you can’t really control,” he added. “Like I said the other day in the press conference for Spa after Quali, Murphy’s Law, you know what I mean? So it’s just about how you get back up and how you, I guess, transform these also lows into, again, other highs. That’s pretty much it.”
Aiming for consistency and further results
Benavides was asked whether he believes a repeat of his standout performance at Spa — where he claimed his maiden pole position — is possible in Budapest or at the final round of the season. While acknowledging that each weekend presents its own challenges, the AIX Racing driver pointed to recent improvements in form as a reason for optimism.
“I guess the evidence points to — if obviously I was able to do it one time, then I could repeat it,” he said. “So that’s, I guess, now the hope moving forward. And it has been so, I guess, since Austria, really.”
Benavides secured points at the Red Bull Ring with a ninth-place finish in the Feature Race and has since shown flashes of competitive pace. However, he also admitted that not every round has delivered on expectations.
“So, I guess it was just Silverstone, the one that let me down,” he continued. “You know, just—this is a good track. AIX was really strong here last year. And as I’ve shown, the pace and quality hasn’t been too bad. So hopefully we could put it in that top 12 window again and see from there.”
Nikita Bedrin had to fight off the attention of Dino Beganovic to secure both his and AIX's maiden win in the Budapest Sprint Race last year 🥇🏆#F3 #HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/5hG3VS1cQS
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) July 30, 2025
He ended on a positive note, expressing his appreciation for the challenge the Hungaroring presents and the potential it offers for a strong F3 performance across the 2025 Hungarian GP weekend.
“I love this track, by the way, though. It’s very technical. It’s something—it’s more of an opportunity to me, at least as a driver, to even put in a better lap. You know, so that’s like, I guess, my focus and my hope for in terms of driving and in terms of the package that I have.”
