The 2025 F3 season marked the end of ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen’s run in the series. But soon enough, the Dutch driver made the step up to Formula 2, joining Trident for his debut weekend in Baku a few months ago. Despite finishing 17th in both the Sprint and Feature Races on his debut weekend, what van Hoepen took away from the weekend was the experience and learning he gained. However, how was van Hoepen’s final campaign season in F3?
A tough inconsistent season
van Hoepen’s 2025 F3 season with ART Grand Prix was inconsistent and fairly disappointing, with the driver and team both admitting that expectations were not met. This was especially true considering his promising debut the season prior. While the season was tough with mixed results, there were still many instances where van Hoepen was able to extract pace from the car. He was able to showcase his speed during Qualifying and on certain tracks. Still, his struggles with consistency prevented him from achieving top results. van Hoepen concluded the 2025 F3 season P12 in the Drivers’ Standings with 60 points to his name. The Dutch driver also made a total of two podium appearances this season: P3 in the Sprint Race at the Monaco GP and the season finale in Monza.
A rough start to the season
After finishing his rookie campaign 13th in the Drivers’ Standings, van Hoepen arrived in Melbourne for the 2025 season opener with high expectations for himself. However, the season opener got off to a rough start for the Dutch driver, as a collision with his teammate James Wharton forced him to retire from the Sprint Race. This marked van Hoepen’s first and only retirement of the season. This streak of disappointment and bad luck only continued for van Hoepen in Bahrain. The weekend that could be considered his worst of the 2025 F3 season. After qualifying P26, he was unable to improve all weekend, finishing P16 in the Sprint and P12 in the Feature Race. A truly forgettable weekend for both him and the team.
Signs of improvements and small victories
van Hoepen showed slight improvement in pace the following weekend in Imola. After qualifying P17 earlier in the weekend, the Dutch driver scored his first points of the season with a P10 finish in the Feature Race. This momentum continued into Monaco where he scored his first podium of the season after finishing 3rd in the Sprint Race. He continued to show great pace over the following rounds, with the Dutch driver finishing inside the top ten at every race until Spielberg. His second and final podium of the season came during the Sprint Race at the season finale in Monza.
DNFs and DQs
van Hoepen concluded the 2025 F3 season with only one DNF in Melbourne and one DQ in Austria. His disqualification in Austria came after his tyres failed to meet the 13.0 PSI minimum stipulated in the Pirelli Technical Preview, breaching Article 10.4.3. Both incidents not involving any errors on van Hoepen’s part. So, what’s next for the Dutch driver?
While it remains uncertain whether van Hoepen will drive for Trident in Qatar in a few weeks’ time, the Dutch driver will no doubt have hoped for a stronger finish to his second F3 campaign. Ending the year 12th in the Drivers’ Standings with 60 points — just one place higher than his rookie season — he nonetheless demonstrated clear potential.
