After finishing sixth in 2024, MP Motorsport bounced back strongly to reclaim a spot in the top three. The Dutch outfit closed the season third in the Teams’ Championship, celebrating a Sprint Race win at Imola with Tim Tramnitz and collecting six podium finishes across their three cars. Importantly, for the first time since 2022, two MP drivers secured top 10 positions in the Standings — Tramnitz in fourth and Alessandro ‘Sandro’ Giusti in 10th.
For Team Principal Sander Dorsman, the 2025 season brought both satisfaction and challenges. “I think it was quite an okay season for us to be honest,” he said. “Of course with a new car, you always need to see a bit where you stand at the start of the season, so I guess for everybody it’s always a bit of an exciting moment to see where you actually are. Of course to start on tracks that are far away in Melbourne and Bahrain is never super easy but I think we have had quite a good start to the year.”
Balancing experience with new talent proved valuable. “With Tim, being the experienced guy, I think he did a good job this season. I think the rookies we had, they did a decent job as well, so we look back at it as quite a good season.”
Adjusting to a new car and rookies
The introduction of a new car meant every team faced a steep learning curve, but MP also had rookies to bring up to speed. Early rounds in Melbourne and Sakhir, where only Tramnitz had prior experience, added to the difficulty. “It was not super easy. It’s a bit easier if you have experienced drivers because they know the tracks and when we went to Melbourne, only Tim knew the track and for the others it was a new experience. A new championship, new tracks, new car, especially for the rookies, is never very easy, so I am quite happy with what Sandro and Bruno did over the season, and how they adapted to the Championship.”
While the team expectied rookie inconsistency, both Giusti and Bruno del Pino showed resilience. “Of course as a rookie you always have the highs and the lows, so it’s only a matter of making sure the lows are not too low and you have a bit more highs. I think they did a good job, so we were quite happy with their performance as well.”
Tramnitz’s title fight
Dorsman also praised Tim Tramnitz, who carried MP’s experience and was a Championship contender until Budapest, when Rafael Câmara sealed the crown. Throughout the 2025 F3 season, race pace proved to be his strength. “I think with Tim, especially his race pace was always fantastic,” said Dorsman.
He continued, “I think during some races, we lacked a bit of quali performance, compared to Câmara. I think that made it a bit more difficult.”
Qualifying, though, remained inconsistent. “It’s always difficult to say, because there are examples where Tim had a difficult quali but his teammates had a good qualifying results. Perhaps, it’s not one thing we need to fix, but also the focus maybe depends a bit on the driver. For a rookie driver, probably the program for the winter testing or post season testing is a bit different than if you worked with a driver that already did a season. I think it’s probably a bit more tailor-made where we need to focus on.”
Staying focused for 2026
Tramnitz’s strong performances, and del Pino’s and Giusti’s steady improvements saw MP Motorsport take third place in the 2025 F3 Teams’ Championship. However, though this accomplishment marked progress, Dorsman insists there can be no complacency. Preparations for 2026 are already underway, with Giusti confirmed to return alongside rookie Mattia Colnaghi.
“I think so far, it has been a good season for the entire team,” he concluded.
He added, “We still have some races to do in F2, but we are long enough in this game to realise you always need to keep pushing and to work hard to do a good job. The moment you are a bit too satisfied with yourself you are on the way down, so it’s always a battle of keeping your feet on the ground, focus forward and to keep working hard. We need to stay humble and do our best.”
For Dorsman and MP Motorsport, the message is clear: success comes with humility and hard work.
