Ahead of the 2025 Spielberg F3 Round at the Austrian GP, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos sits sixth in the Drivers’ Championship with 45 points—60 behind leader Rafael Câmara of Trident. Despite taking two race wins this season, triumphing in the Melbourne Sprint and Imola Feature Races, and securing a second-place finish in the Barcelona Sprint Race, the Mexican driver’s campaign has been plagued by inconsistency and misfortune. He has failed to finish four races so far, undermining his bid for a more consistent run in the title fight.
Van Amersfoort Racing currently holds fourth in the Teams’ Championship with 106 points, 70 fewer than leaders Trident. The Dutch outfit owes its position to the collective efforts of Ramos and his teammates. Théophile Naël, currently eighth in the standings, and Ivan Domingues, who occupies fourteenth, have both played crucial roles—most notably Domingues, who recently made history by becoming the first Portuguese driver to win an F3 race following his victory in the Barcelona Sprint.
Cooperation over competition promotes strong intra-team dynamics at Van Amersfoort Racing
During a media event, attended by Pit Debrief, ahead of the 2025 Spielberg F3 round, Ramos discussed the role that a strong teammate relationship had played in his team’s success this season. While he acknowledged the selfish nature of the sport, with drivers needing to put their own interests ahead of others, he stated that cooperation had helped drive the team forward, as drivers shared their unique experiences to improve the team’s overall performance, especially with the new car.
The Mexican driver noted that this intra-team cohesion could be an asset at the Red Bull Ring, especially with all three drivers having previously raced there in other categories.
“I think it’s crucial to have a good chemistry inside of the team, especially with my teammates, because at the end, we are all three experienced drivers that have experience on this track, so if we’re able to work together at the end, every driver wants to win the race for sure, but if we are able to kind of cooperate and work together and push the team forward, especially with a new car, I think the experience of all those three drivers can help us push the team forward, but it’s what is happening so far.”
Ramos focused on rest and recovery after back injury in Barcelona
After a gruelling first half of the 2025 F3 season, most recently marked by the European triple-header across Imola, Monte Carlo, and Barcelona, intra-team dynamics are not the only factor which could affect Ramos’ performance this weekend in Austria. In a series where small mistakes can be harshly punished, Ramos and his teammates have focused on their preparation, with the Mexican driver highlighting their recent simulator work ahead of the weekend.
“Honestly, I’d say we did some sim a couple of days before coming here with the team in [the] Netherlands but apart from that, I tried to disconnect a bit after Barcelona
However, having recently injured his back in the Barcelona Feature Race, the Van Amersfoort driver has also had to prioritise his recovery to ensure that he is fit and ready to race.
“I had an incident in the Feature Race, so I injured my back a bit. So I just tried to recover and make sure I was fully recovered for these rounds. I just rested a bit, went back to Mexico for a few days, say hi to the family and friends, and tried to keep my mind out of racing for a couple of days.”
Having recovered sufficiently, and spent significant time on the simulator, Ramos believes that he is ready for this weekend’s Spielberg F3 Round, as well as the upcoming Silverstone Round.
“Now, like I said a couple of days ago, I went back to the simulator. I prepared this weekend and the next one in Silverstone. I just try to take it one weekend at a time.”
Training the “extra reaction” vital for F3 success
Ramos also highlighted the importance of physical training, with emphasis placed on cognitive function and reactiveness. This preparation, he explained, was key to overcoming issues during the races, especially with stalls having become more common in recent years.
“I think it’s just a lot of training, honestly,” he said when asked about how he prepared to face the sustained physical and mental pressures of the race weekend.
“It’s especially like cognitive and reaction on the gym and preparing well for an event. It’s just a matter of getting ready, especially for the races where you need that extra reaction. If the driver is slipping on the start or if they stall or whatever, you need to be really, really sharp with the inputs. Yeah, just try to warm up and get your mind ready for it.”
Experience and confidence vital assets for Ramos’ 2025 F3 championship
However, Ramos, now in his second season of F3 after finishing 2024 16th in the Drivers’ Championship with 44 points, also acknowledged that his experience in the series had been an asset.
“I think it’s just experience,” Ramos said, when asked by Pit Debrief about his improved performance in 2025. “I’ve learned more or less how this championship works.”
His experience has also improved his confidence, something which Ramos also credits as having been important for his success. With the pace of the car having not been an issue for the Mexican driver in either 2024 or the early part of 2025, Ramos believes that this improved confidence has helped his approach to racing in F3, thereby helping him produce better results. However, he also acknowledged that mistakes had also affected his performance.
“And also, I have more confidence in the car. Also, the tracks, I know them pretty well now. I think it’s just a matter of having that confidence from last year that we knew we were fast most of the time.”
“Just to know that I’m able to be fast and be consistent gave me that extra confidence this year just to go for it and put the laps together. So, this year has been much better with that. I also managed to secure two wins already in the season. So, that also helped, obviously, with the confidence.”
Ramos aiming to “keep this motivation” into the second half of the season
With five rounds left before the end of the 2025 F3 season, Ramos hopes to maintain his momentum and motivation, allowing himself to maximise his performance in the championship standings. Though a significant gap exists between him and Drivers’ Championship leader Câmara, it is not insurmountable, with Ramos still in contention for the title.
“And, yeah, I hope we can keep this motivation like this and hopefully finish high up in the standings at the end of the year.”
“Good chemistry” has helped Ramos settle in at Van Amersfoort Racing
While experience has helped Ramos’ 2025 F3 campaign, the team environment at Van Amersfoort Racing has also been an asset. The Mexican driver joined the Dutch outfit ahead of the 2025 F3 season after spending his debut season with Trident.
Though he was nothing but complimentary towards his former team, praising their recent success in both the Drivers’ and Teams’ Championships, and expressing gratitude for the role that they had played in his development as a driver, he stated that he had settled in well at Van Amersfoort Racing.
Despite the different philosophies and environments, Ramos believes that he has developed “good chemistry” with his team and praised their historically-strong development programme.
“Honestly, I’ve been great. I think after coming from Trident, I’ve learned many things from them. Obviously, it’s one of the best teams historically in F3, so I knew I had to take my notes on the good things they did last year. And yeah, from there, I just tried to work with Van Amersfoort.”
“Obviously, it’s a much different philosophy than the one they had in Trident, but I have to say I’m really liking it. I think it’s also the good chemistry I have with my teammates and all the engineers and mechanics, it’s helping everything. And they have always been a really good team developing new cars, so I think this year it’s not the exception.”
Ramos expects different fortunes in 2025 after learning from 2024 mistakes in Spielberg
After missing out on points in both the F3 Sprint and Feature Races in 2024, Ramos will be hoping for improved fortunes over the Austrian GP weekend. When asked about his mindset coming into the weekend, Ramos was optimistic. He explained that he understood the mistakes that he had made in Spielberg in 2024, and had learned from them.
He believes this improved understanding, combined with his good momentum coming out of Barcelona and his comfort in the car, can be advantageous, and while he acknowledges that some drivers will be especially threatening, Ramos believes that he can be sharp enough to hold his own.
“For me, I think it’s just we learned what happened last year. I understand it now [and] I have it quite clear what was the problem. I just learned from that not to fall into the same trick again. Obviously, we have a good momentum coming out of Barcelona. Also, the team is going quite well. We are quite comfortable with the base balance in the car.”
“I think this track is one that’s really tight with the lap times. For sure, there’s going to be many drivers in a couple of tenths. We need to be sharp and be able to put a lot. I’ve learned my mistakes last year.”
“I’m sure that this year is going to be completely different,” he summarised.
Ramos sad to see Imola leave but excited to race in Madrid
Ramos also discussed the recent replacement of the Imola Round with a race in Madrid. For the Mexican driver, who made his formula-racing debut at the historical track, the loss of Imola from the calendar is sad, especially as he believes that it provides a significant challenge for drivers.
“For me, I think it’s just, first of all, it’s sad to lose Imola. You know, Imola is the track where I made my debut in Formula cars in Europe. It’s a track I really like, especially this year where I won the race, the Feature race. So, yeah, it’s a really special track for me. Like Charlie [Wurz] said, I think it’s one of the most difficult tracks to put a lap together. It’s really a pleasure to drive in.”
However, Ramos is excited to see what the Madring can bring. Though he has not had the opportunity to explore the track, he believes that it can provide “a lot of fun” and is anxious to see what Madrid can bring to the F3 championship in 2026.
“So, I’m sad to lose that one but on the other hand, it’s good to have Madrid. I haven’t seen much of the track, honestly. I haven’t seen onboards or anything about it, but yeah, for sure it’s going to be a good one. You know, with the new regulations of the track. So, yeah, for sure it’s going to be fun, a lot of overtakes, and yeah, I’m anxious to see what Madrid brings on in 2026.”
