After racing with MP Motorsport throughout the 2023 season of FIA F3, Mari Boya was picked up by Campos Racing for this season and last. The 21-year-old spaniard currently stares down the potential of his best F3 championship finish. Sitting in P12 in the standings at current, with 36 points, Boya is hoping this will be an improved finish, on his past P17 and P15 finishes.
Boya’s teammates currently sit in P2 and P17, sitting him comfortably in the middle. After missing out on points scoring positions in Australia, Boya has continued on to score points in each round following. While he sits in P12, he is on equal points with Van Hoepen in P13, and with the recent performance of Van Hoepen, he will need to create an advantage on him in remaining rounds.
The Australian Grand Prix
A tough and interrupted Qualifying session in Melbourne saw Boya’s best efforts only landing him P24. Despite this, the Spaniard embarked on an incredible recovery drive in the Sprint and Feature races, and secured P13 and P18 respectively. Unbeknown to Boya, this would be the only round in the first half of the season, that he would fail to bring home points in.
The Bahrain Grand Prix
After a Qualifying effort of P20, Boya yet again set out on recovery drives in the Sprint and Feature races. Although he was only able to climb five positions to P15 in the Sprint, he climbed a massive 12 to finish P8 in the Feature. The 21-year-old brought home four points for the round in Bahrain.
The Triple Header
A seemingly cleaner Qualifying session during the first leg of the Triple Header in Imola, saw Boya securing P10. Starting from P3 in an unfortunate Sprint Race, saw podium hopes ending early for the Spaniard, after losing power, resulting in a DNF result. The Feature Race said goodbye to Boya’s misfortune, seeing him climb to P5 from P10.
As we moved into the second leg of the Triple Header in Monaco, it’s safe to assume most drivers hoped for the best but expected the worst. Despite the tricky nature of the prestige Monte Carlo circuit, Boya parked his Campos machinery in P3 in the split Qualifying sessions. The Spaniard climbed two positions in the Sprint Race to finish P8, while he maintained his P3 start in the Feature Race, landing on the final step of the podium.
The final leg of the Triple Header took place a mere two weeks ago in Barcelona. This Qualifying proved tricky yet again, securing a P15 start at his home race weekend. The Spaniard managed to climb the field from P15 to P7, bringing home points in the Sprint Race. An unfortunate Feature Race saw him down the back of the field in P23, a tough way to finish his home Grand Prix.
What does this all mean?
With fairly consistent performance across the first portion of the season, we can safely say that Boya and his Campos Racing machinery have the pace, to fight for a higher place in the Championship standings. Across the first half of the season, the Spaniard has mostly seen less than ideal results, from issues out of his control.
Australia was undeniably his worst round, after bringing home zero points. Despite his DNF result in Imola, he still managed to end the weekend with new points under his belt.
We all look forward to see how the remaining rounds of the season play out for Boya, and whether he can chase down his teammate, who sits in P2 in the standings.
