Camara claims fourth pole at the 2025 F3 Spanish GP Qualifying

Spread the love

The final Qualifying session of the European triple-header took place under the sun at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship intensified. With a front-row start proving vital—every Feature Race winner so far this season having started from either pole or P2—drivers were determined to maximise every millisecond on track. The stakes were equally high for the Sprint Race, with the reverse-grid rule favouring those who finished within the top 12.

Earlier in the day, Free Practice witnessed Rafael Câmara set the benchmark for TRIDENT with a blistering 1:29.024. MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti followed closely, clocking in at 1:29.346, just 0.322s off the Brazilian’s pace. Hometown favourite Mari Boya made an encouraging start to his home race weekend, going third fastest in his Campos. Championship rivals Tim Tramnitz and Nikola Tsolov also featured in the top ten, hinting at a tight battle ahead.

Green lights at the F3 Spanish GP Qualifying

Thirty minutes were on the clock as the drivers left the pit lane to warm up their tyres on their outlaps.

Many eyes were on championship leader Câmara, who had been fastest on track in Free Practice, and on Boya, who was competing on home soil.

It quickly became a traffic-filled affair, with drivers eager to secure track position and gain the advantage of clean air. While the majority of cars exited the pit lane as soon as the lights went green, both MP Motorsport cars chose to remain in the garage, leaving three minutes later in the hope of finding clear space for their laps.

Strømsted was the first to complete a flying lap and topped the charts with a time of 1:51.397.

Câmara, fastest in Free Practice, went purple in Sector 1 but ran wide twice during his push lap. Despite the errors, he managed to top the timesheets with a 1:29.784.

Shortly afterwards, Intharaphuvask replaced him at the top, crossing the line with a 1:29.433—0.351 seconds faster than the championship leader.

Meanwhile, Ugo ventured into the gravel, which brought out a temporary yellow flag. Wurz, Tramnitz, Tsolov, Lacorte, Domingues, Ugochukwu had their lap times deleted for exceeding track limits.

ART Grand Prix off to a strong start

ART Grand Prix delivered a strong first set of laps. Taponen went fastest with a 1:29.341, 0.042 seconds ahead of Intharaphuvask. His team-mate Wharton placed third, while Laurens van Hoepen occupied P10. All three ART GP drivers were inside the top 12 within the first ten minutes of the session.

15 minutes left on the clock

With 15 minutes remaining, the drivers pitted to switch to fresh Pirelli tyres. They returned to the circuit shortly afterwards to begin their second flying laps of the session.

As the session resumed, drivers scrambled for space on track to begin their push laps. Tsolov recorded his first representative lap time, setting a 1:29.693 to move into P4.

Câmara responded with a dominant lap, setting purple sectors in all three sections and reclaiming provisional pole with a 1:28.761, 0.345 seconds clear of P2.

MP Motorsport enjoyed a productive first half to the session, with all three of their cars placed inside the top 12. In contrast, Rodin Motorsport continued to struggle. All three of their drivers remained outside the top 12, with Voisin down in P21.

A final push for pole

With just over eight minutes left on the clock, the drivers returned to the pits once again to fit a final set of tyres before their last push laps of the session.

Câmara remained unchallenged at the top and chose to stay in the garage a little longer to ensure a buffer for clean air on his final attempt.

With six and a half minutes remaining, the drivers began to rejoin the track for their final runs.

Tsolov, who was in P11 at the time, was among the first to complete his last lap. He jumped to P2 with a 1:28.977, only 0.216 seconds behind Câmara.

In the final seconds of the session, Boya, León, and Wharton were pushed out of the top 12 as more drivers completed their laps.

Câmara dominant in Qualifying

When the F3 Spanish GP Qualifying session concluded, the results were confirmed. Câmara secured his fourth provisional pole position of the season during the F3 Spanish Grand Prix Qualifying. TRIDENT reasserted its dominance in the championship, recovering strongly from a disappointing Monaco Grand Prix weekend. Championship contender Tsolov completed the front row in P2, while Van Hoepen joined them in P3.

With the top 12 reversed for the Sprint Race, Wharton was set to start from pole position for Rodin at the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix, with Stenshorne alongside him on the front row. However, the reinstatement of Bilinski’s time saw him reclaim P12, demoting Wharton to P13.