With the F3 season finale coming up this weekend at the Italian GP, Giacomo Ricci shared the secrets it took Trident to produce three championship-winning drivers. Over the past three years, the team has helped pave the way for Gabriel Bortoleto, Leonardo Fornaroli, and Rafael Câmara to claim the coveted Drivers’ title—with Trident’s newly crowned champion Câmara heading into the final weekend with a 48-point lead over Boya in P2.
Not only did Trident dominate the F3 Drivers’ Championship, the team has now come closer than ever to securing their first Teams’ title since 2021. After several challenging years of closing the gap on their long-time rivals Prema Racing, the F3 Italian GP will crown a new champion in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Teams’ Championship. With the Italian outfit holding a narrow 19-point lead over Campos Racing, the battle is tight between the two teams.
How to produce champions
With the 2025 Formula 3 Championship is coming to an end, Ricci and Trident can rest satisfied after helping Câmara win the title with a round to spare. During Thursday’s virtual media session, Pit Debrief was in attendance when Ricci explained what has worked for the team. Their number of driver championships won is enviable. Ricci claimed that the constant results and dedication have become a good incentive for drivers.
“Well, I have to say the first thing that is very tough at the start is to move the team in a positive loop. Once you can move the team in a positive loop, you can attract a competitive driver every year. And having a very talented and strong driver, this is for me the first part.”
Moreover, prepping for these drivers is no easy feat. Formula 3 is often a driver’s first outing in this type of machinery. Ricci believes Trident has understood what it takes to welcome and shape these young drivers for a successful Formula 3 campaign.
“And regarding the preparation, I have to say that we are extremely dedicated on this topic. Also, to try to create within the team this positive atmosphere. Because we have to consider in Formula 3, especially, they are very young and quite inexperienced.
The need for consistency and practice
Coming up into the F3 Italian GP weekend, Ricci went on to showcase how detrimental it is for Trident to teach these drivers. Not only will their learning shape their driving, but it will also determine the team’s results. Furthermore, he mentioned the post-season and pre-season tests, which, in his eyes, are the key moments in a driver’s maturity process.
“So it’s extremely important to transmit to them the basic information right and try to help them mature as much as possible during the post-season test of the previous year and during the pre-season test. And I have to say that the team on this aspect has always been great,” admitted the Trident team manager.
Highlighting the importance of such a great feat, Ricci recognised the effort needed to keep up this new streak.
“It’s something special to us now, having three drivers’ championships in a row. I couldn’t ask for anything more than this. And it’s really, really important for the future to keep up the momentum.”
Comparing the three champions
Trident managed to harness the potential of three incredibly talented drivers, who proved themselves by winning the championship title. When asked to compare Bortoleto, Fornaroli, and Câmara, Ricci decided to instead bring attention to their similarities:
“Well, it’s not an easy one. I mean, again, the drivers are extremely, extremely young. There is a positive and negative on the three. It’s tough for me to answer where Bortoleto was better or worse than Camara and where Fornaroli was strongest. I have to say the common things on the three are that the will of success, the dedication that they took in place and the fact that they’ve always been very, very consistent through the season.”
In terms of what made a difference, Ricci analysed the three Trident drivers and their experience in the F3 battle for the title. He metioned Fornaroli, who is currently remains a strong title contender in F2 after winning the F3 Championship last year. Nevertheless, talent and dedication remain the main reasons for their success.
“That was what made the difference. Okay, it was maybe a little bit different for Fornaroli. Where last year, let’s say, we fought for the title until the last race in Parabolica. And Leo last year, you know, won the championship. Especially because of being extremely consistent.”
“I have to say, in some occasions, he’s also been a little bit unlucky. Because otherwise, he could win, in my opinion, a couple of other races. But what I can see on the three drivers is, of course, the talent and this massive dedication and the will to succeed.”
The importance of a simulator
The Trident factory is well-equipped with its own simulator. However, this is not the standard for all the teams that take part in F3. Ricci credited Trident’s success in preparing its F3 drivers to this factor. Claiming that track time plays such an essential role in preparation, he gave an overview of their team’s simulator time.
“The simulator, especially since the track time is so limited today, is extremely important. It’s part of our pre-event preparation. So each driver is coming to the Trident factory. They’re spending two or three days there between meetings and the simulator sessions.
“And it is a key because on the sim you try everything. You try from the warm-up procedure, cool-down lap, how to prepare the lap. Then you have plenty of track time, where even if you make a mistake, you can always restart with no problem.”
According to the Trident team principal, the simulator provides the opportunity to try out different strategies. With that, it allows drivers to predict and acquire track time, a factor incredibly valuable for rookies.
Accurate simulator time
With the finale quickly approaching, Ricci felt it was important to differentiate between the simulator and a video game. These young Formula 3 drivers need as much time to learn the circuits as possible. And sometimes, the practice sessions are not enough.
“Today, the level of the simulator, generally speaking, is extremely high. So, to reach the performance on the sim is not a video game. It’s something that is very difficult also for the driver. So absolutely key. And the team are taking massive attention in the development of the sim, the tyres model. Always to make it as accurate as possible.”
Seemingly straightforward, the simulator needs to be updated constantly in order to offer accuracy. Ricci mentioned that everything from the curbs and the barriers is always up to date. Therefore, it offers the perfect learning machine for new tracks.
“The graphic, if there is any update from the circuit. Different curb, different, you know, even the board sometimes are changing the position. So you always try to do everything in the best way possible to prepare the driver. But I have to say that it is the most important tool that the driver today has available to prepare them.”
Sealing the team championship
This 2025 season showcased an absolute anomaly. For the first time in recent years, Prema Racing fell down the order and from the Teams’ Championship battle. Now, the F3 Italian GP will see Trident and Campos fighting to prove their worth and why they deserve to become the new title holders.
With stakes this high, Ricci believes the 2025 F3 season showed just how competitive both his team and Campos are. Nonetheless, the experienced team principal is quite sure that Prema will manage to react and recover from a small dip in performance.
“Let’s hope,” responded Ricci when asked if this win would position Trident as the new team to beat. “First of all, regarding Prema. I know them quite well, and I’m sure that they will bounce back quite quickly. That’s my opinion.”
“Secondly, again, the battle and the challenge for me to take also the team titles is not an easy one.
For me, Trident and Campos, through the season, they’ve been extremely close to each other in terms of performance. And, yes, we are entering the final race event with this small advantage in terms of points, 19 points. But again, you’re scoring points with three cars.”
Keeping his hopes moderate for now, Trident come into the Italian GP weekend with one thing in mind. Ricci spoke of the inability to predict such outcomes, hoping for the best in the interest of his team.
“I see already in the past that things can go well. But also, things can turn on the opposite side. Of course, the target is to try as hard as possible to bring home both championships and be the new reference team.”
Overview of the 2025 season
No matter what happens during this weekend’s race, Trident will still put up incredible fights. In response to a question from Pit Debrief, Ricci shared his perspective on the season as a whole, with its victories and defeats.
“Yeah, same for me. We had a strong season. We didn’t have a technical problem, and we’ve been performing more or less in any condition. In my opinion, in a couple of races, we could improve a little bit the race pace. But overall, I’m extremely pleased with the performance achieved from the whole team.”
The job of a team principal is difficult. Even now, with the results to show for their hard work, Ricci still wishes there were a couple more races in the calendar. That way, Trident would be able to show their improvements in race pace, which has been their hardest aspect to manage.
Choosing the best driver lineup
In comparison to their rivals this year at Campos, Trident’s driver lineup was composed of two rookies. While Campos chose experienced drivers for all three spots, Ricci and his team opted to give new talent a chance. And what good it did, with Câmara winning the F3 title in his first year.
Ricci explained the thought process that went behind Trident’s decision for their F3 lineup. The key to their choice sat not in the number of years behind an F3 wheel, but in their talent.
“Well, first of all, for me, it’s really important to have three strong drivers in the team. The experience counts, but for me, it’s so-so, I have to say. It’s important to have three strong drivers that can push each other. Also, because, especially during a pre-season test, you can try different stuff on the three cars.
“And you can always extract some good data and information. If for any reason you have in the team only one good, then you will never be able to test what you are carrying on with the three cars.”
When it comes to overall experience, Ricci does not agree that it equals results. He believes this shows exactly in the current predicament between Campos and Trident. With the F3 Italian GP kicking off tomorrow, Ricci highlighted the competitiveness of Trident’s lineup.
“And, going on the experience, maybe in some situations this can help. But again, going back to the point about the Trident and Campos lineup, I have to say, despite the difference of experience, that they are quite equal, the two lineups. And also, for me, both cars have been competitive through all the seasons.”
