ART Grand Prix’s Laurens Van Hoepen claimed P3 in 2025 Barcelona F3 Round Qualifying, setting himself up for a productive weekend in Spain. Van Hoepen will now start Sunday’s F3 Feature Race from the second row. With the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya often favouring drivers at the front of the grid, this puts Van Hoepen in a good position takes home substantial points as the European triple header comes to its end.
Van Hoepen will aim to improve on his Monte Carlo performance, where he gained valuable points after a P3 finish in the Sprint Race. He added another eight points after finishing the Feature Race in P6. For Van Hoepen who suffered a disappointing start to the season, strong momentum could be vital to keeping his championship hopes alive. He sets P13 in the F3 Drivers’ Championship with only 17 points—72 points behind championship leader Rafael Câmara.
Best Qualifying result of the 2025 season
Despite a difficult start to the season, van Hoepen delivered his best Qualifying result of 2025 on Friday in Barcelona. The 19-year-old has finally begun to reap the rewards of his and ART Grand Prix’s consistent efforts to improve. During a post-qualifying press conference attended by Pit Debrief, van Hoepen reflected on his progress:
“Yeah, I mean, it’s obviously been a very, very difficult start. But then we’ve just been working hard after every round and step by step to be coming closer and closer to, well, Rafa [Câmara] most of the time. And so far it’s going well.”
“For sure, we still have some way to go, but at least to really see the improving line, it’s good. And yeah, it makes me happy to at least see some reward for the hard work we’ve been putting in.”
Nevertheless, Van Hoepen acknowledged the overall progress made by the team and the renewed sense of confidence that now fuels them.
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, we were not fully understanding everything about the car in the beginning of the year. And we’ve just been analysing a lot and trying different things.”
“And I think so far it’s been working, and we’re just getting the car better and better each weekend. So, I mean, it’s just a boost in morale for everyone that, finally, we get it there and we’re getting closer, you know?”
Van Hoepen confident heading into the F3 Barcelona Round
As ART Grand Prix lines up multiple drivers in strong starting positions, the team appears well-positioned to secure more points this weekend. Van Hoepen commented further on the team’s outlook, despite their early-season challenges.
“Yeah, for sure. I mean, we have to focus on the races now to be able to do a good job there as well. But I’m quite confident for that. I think race pace has been quite strong all year. It’s just been the Fridays where we’ve been struggling so far. So yeah, I’m just excited to finally start from a better position and see what we can do from there.”
Managing tyres in the Barcelona heat
The Friday Free Practice and Qualifying sessions allowed the 30 drivers to familiarise themselves with the track and its demands. Now in his second year of F3, Van Hoepen drew on past experience to assess the conditions, highlighting overheating as a potential issue during the Feature Race:
“No, not so much. I mean, like both of them [Câmara and Tsolov] said, I mean, we have the data from the last few years, where you can understand a lot from. And then also today, you could just feel like how hot it was on track as well. And it’s definitely going to play a big role into the deg that we’re going to have. But I mean, it’s the same for everyone. So you just have to deal with it.”
Strategy and a good start critical in Barcelona
Moreover, van Hoepen provided insight into the strategic communication between himself and his race engineer. He underlined the importance of track position during Qualifying and the thorough preparation involved:
“Yeah, so track position is key. I mean, it’s so important, where you’re on track, to be able to have a free lap when the tyre is there. I mean, we speak a lot with the engineers.”
“And also before qualifying, we try to make a plan to be sure that we’re in the right position. But then, yeah, a lot of things always happen during qualifying. But then you have the engineer on the radio who knows most things. So you can just speak with him and basically just have a bit of a conversation of what to do. And that really just helps to be sure that you’re starting in the right position.”
Focus on Sunday’s F3 Barcelona Feature Race
As the Barcelona circuit often sees winners emerge from the front row, van Hoepen recognises the need for an assertive approach at the start. He explained how the run into Turn 1 could prove critical in determining the outcome of the race:
“Yeah, so like they said, the start is very, very important here. There’s a long run down to turn one. So, just all coming from that.“
“I mean, if you have a good start and you can maybe have a look down inside for T1, but then if you have a bit of a worse start, then you maybe just have to focus on staying where you are and keeping it clean through T1.”
With a season-best Qualifying performance behind him and confidence building within the ART Grand Prix camp, van Hoepen now turns his focus to maximising this opportunity in Sunday’s Feature Race.
