MP Motorsport’s Bruno del Pino took home his maiden podium at the 2025 F3 Imola GP, finishing in P2, behind his teammate Tim Tramnitz. Initially in the lead, Del Pino was overtaken by Tramnitz, but maintained a strong pace to catch up and keep Nikola Tsolov behind.
Speaking to the media including Pit Debrief, Del Pino recapped the start of the race in his perspective. “The start was good. I managed to pull away a bit from the first lap, but then when the DRS was enabled, it was massive,” he said. “So I really had nothing to do when Tim passed me on the straight.”
“Just afterwards, it was just managing tyres with the safety car, and just trying to be always on the DRS, as I knew that Nikola [Tsolov] was always behind me.“
“Yeah, the entire race was just being able to stay close to my teammate, being with the DRS because Nikola [Tsolov] was pushing me.”
Car conditions during a tricky race
“The tyres didn’t feel that much deg, so I managed to kind of always be one second between my teammate and also Nikola [Tsolov] not being close enough to overtake me,
“The race was quite difficult because of the two safety cars, but I managed t just finish the entire race without any issues, without having to battle a lot, and no deg, which was quite nice, and not being prepared to battle a lot.” he said. “But yeah, I managed to do all things clear and manage the podium, which is first here.”
A rookie podium in Imola
It was Del Pino’s very first F3 Sprint in Imola, making his rookie season that much more exciting — his race result paired with a teammate 1-2 finish for the MP Motorsport duo, creating an exciting kick into a triple header. When asked about battling his teammate for a podium position, Del Pino was quick to admit there were “team rules” in play.
He may have been happy with his first #F3 podium, but we think @BrunoDelpino2 may have been happier with his Gelato 🍧😋#ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/gEMsBEuf05
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) May 17, 2025
“Obviously, we got some like in between the team rules, [so we don’t crash] each other, obviously. But yeah, we managed to not fight a lot,” he admitted. “We managed to kind of like cooperate to be able to always be close to each other, being able to not fight and just trying to pull away from the guys behind.”
“And yeah, but obviously didn’t have many opportunities to overtake. So just the entire race was just being behind him, being within that one second for the DRS. I think it was all clear.”
A tough start to the season soon forgotten
After a rough start to the season in Melbourne, Del Pino showed improvement in Bahrain, further solidified by strong sprint race and qualifying results in Imola, setting the stage for his rise.
When asked about his progress in the season, Del Pino said, “Obviously, Melbourne wasn’t the great start that I wished for.”
“Qualifying was really difficult and obviously, starting from P29 in both races, there’s not really that much that I can do, but then obviously in Bahrain managed to get a good qualifying pace, which was really important for me, as in the test I struggled a lot in Bahrain.”
“I think moving in the right direction, making big steps at a time, this podium is obviously a boost of confidence to keep working hard, keep improving the things that I need to improve and race by race, just trying to nail the things that I’m lacking and trying to achieve as many points as possible and improve race by race.”
Safety car madness in Imola
“I think I’m moving in the right direction, making big steps at a time, this podium is obviously a boost of confidence to keep working hard, keep improving the things that I need to improve, and race by race, just trying to nail the things I’m lacking and trying to achieve as many points as possible, and improve race by race.”
Safety cars always impact a race at a track like Imola; whether they favour or hinder a driver, teams can adapt their strategy to optimise the situation.
There was no shortage of drama in the Sprint Race 😳#F3 #ImolaGP pic.twitter.com/q4hMbqkW5B
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) May 17, 2025
“I managed to cool the tyres down a bit, kind of like managing the deg and being able to push as maximum when the safety car came out, and stay close to Tim.“
“When the second safety car came out, I started to feel a bit of deg in the front, and it really helped me cool the tyres, work on them and get them back to life – managing the last laps always with a good speed.”
Looking ahead to the F3 Monaco Grand Prix, Bruno del Pino will hope to emulate his performance during the Imola Sprint Race, and improve Qualifying performance.
Co-Author: Chiara Martin
