2025 F3 Season Roundup: Round Two – Bahrain

Roundup of the second round of the 2025 F3 season as the grid touched down in Bahrain.

Rafael Camara arrived in Bahrain as the championship leader as several drivers looked to ignite a title challenge, but the Brazilian continued to prove that he is a serious title contender despite only being a rookie driver.

 

Practice

Rodin’s Callum Voisin, Louis Sharp and Roman Bilinski were first out on track in a very quiet start as many drivers opted to stay in the pits, having conducted much of their practice programme during the in-season test at the same circuit just a fortnight earlier.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s (VAR) Ivan Domingues however was the first to set the benchmark time of 2m 29.905 in the seventh minute, although he eventually lowered his benchmark to 1m 52.776 six minutes later,

With 15 minutes left on the clock, the remainder of the field began to join the on-track action and it was Campos’ Nikola Tsolov who soon set the pace with seven minutes left, as he posted 1m 51.111 to go fastest.

Championship leader, Camara however wasn’t to be outdone with three minutes left as he posted 1m 50.984 to top the session from Tsolov and ART GP’s Tuukka Taponen.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Rafael Camara	Trident	1m 50.984
2	Nikola Tsolov	Campos	+ 0.127
3	Tuukka Taponen	ART GP	+ 0.218
4	Santiago Ramos	VAR	+ 0.298
5	Alessandro Giusti	MP Motorsport	+ 0.411
6	Charlie Wurz	Trident	+ 0.421
7	Roman Bilinski	Rodin	+ 0.439
8	Tim Tramnitz	MP Motorsport	+ 0.443
9	Bruno del Pino	MP Motorsport	+ 0.451
10	Ugo Ugochukwu	PREMA	+ 0.500
11	Christian Ho	DAMS	+ 0.516
12	Mari Boya	Campos	+ 0.536
13	Joshua Dufek	Hitech GP	+ 0.651
14	Martinius Stenshorne	Hitech GP	+ 0.700
15	Freddie Slater	AIX Racing	+ 0.709
16	James Wharton	ART GP	+ 0.721
17	Louis Sharp	Rodin	+ 0.723
18	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	Campos	+ 0.785
19	Laurens van Hoepen	ART GP	+ 0.787
20	Noel Leon	PREMA	+ 0.834
21	Callum Voisin	Rodin	+ 0.836
22	Noah Strømsted	Trident	+ 0.912
23	Brando Badoer	PREMA	+ 1.094
24	Ivan Domingues	VAR	+ 1.142
25	Matias Zagazeta	DAMS	+ 1.161
26	Nicola Lacorte	DAMS	+ 1.221
27	Theophile Nael	VAR	+ 1.234
28	Gerrard Xie	Hitech GP	+ 1.347
29	Nicola Marinangeli	AIX Racing	+ 1.576
30	Javier Sagrera	AIX Racing	+ 1.821

 

Qualifying

Like in Practice, Voisin, Sharp and Bilinski were first out on track but it was Hitech GP’s Gerrard Xie who set the initial benchmark of 2m 14.568, until Voisin laid a representative benchmark of 1m 51.302 which was soon beaten as Tsolov set the pace on 1m 50.506 after the opening runs.

Voisin however responded in his second stint with 1m 49.882 to go onto provisional pole from Giusti and Camara ahead of the final runs.

Camara however proved unbeatable as he produced a 1m 49.214 to snatch pole from Voisin by 0.156 seconds, whilst Wurz, Ho, Del Pino, Taponen, Strømsted, Tsolov, Giusti, Slater, Stenshorne and Dufek rounded out the top 12, – of which Dufek claimed reverse pole for the sprint.

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Rafael Camara	Trident	1m 49.214
2	Callum Voisin	Rodin	+ 0.156
3	Charlie Wurz	Trident	+ 0.404
4	Christian Ho	DAMS	+ 0.404
5	Bruno del Pino	MP Motorsport	+ 0.541
6	Tuukka Taponen	ART GP	+ 0.548
7	Noah Strømsted	Trident	+ 0.639
8	Nikola Tsolov	Campos	+ 0.684
9	Alessandro Giusti	MP Motorsport	+ 0.691
10	Freddie Slater	AIX Racing	+ 0.714
11	Martinus Stenshorne	Hitech GP	+ 0.764
12	Joshua Dufek	Hitech GP	+ 0.843
13	Tim Tramnitz	MP Motorsport	+ 0.868
14	Noel Leon	PREMA	+ 0.905
15	Javier Sagrera	AIX Racing	+ 0.940
16	Brando Badoer	PREMA	+ 0.957
17	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	Campos	+ 1.003
18	Louis Sharp	Rodin	+ 1.009
19	Roman Bilinski	Rodin	+ 1.100
20	Mari Boya	Campos	+ 1.166
21	Ugo Ugochukwu	PREMA	+ 1.171
22	Theophile Nael	VAR	+ 1.176
23	Ivan Domingues	VAR	+ 1.182
24	James Wharton	ART GP	+ 1.211
25	Nicola Lacorte	DAMS	+ 1.266
26	Laurens van Hoepen	ART GP	+ 1.346
27	Gerrard Xie	Hitech GP	+ 1.369
28	Matias Zagazeta	DAMS	+ 1.410
29	Nicola Marinangeli	AIX Racing	+ 1.555
30	Santiago Ramos	VAR	+ 1.579

 

Sprint Race

At lights out, Dufek led Stenshorne and Slater who quickly demoted Stenshorne round the outside of Turn 4, whilst Tsolov and Taponen cleared Giusti for fourth and fifth but Camara stalled from 12th on the grid to ruin any hopes of a top-ten finish for the Brazilian.

Up front, Slater caught Dufek and passed the Austrian driver for the lead into Turn 1 on Lap 3, but the safety car was deployed a lap later following a collision between PREMA’s Brando Badoer and Ugo Ugochukwu which saw the latter spin out.

Racing resumed on Lap 7 and Tsolov – having earlier cleared Stenshorne for third – quickly passed Dufek for second as the Hitech driver began to tumble down the order, which left the Bulgarian to chase down Slater but he got his braking wrong as he attempted to take the lead on Lap 9 at Turn 1.

Slater mounted a resilient defensive drive until Tsolov eventually passed him on Lap 11 at the same corner, whilst Taponen cleared Stenshorne for third on that same lap.

The safety car was redeployed on Lap 15 after Domingues spun out himself and Dufek at the first corner.

Racing recommenced on Lap 18 but Tsolov clung on to snatch a nervy record-equalling fourth victory of his F3 career ahead of debutant, Slater by 0.580s, whilst Taponen rounded out the podium ahead of Voisin and Stenshorne.

Tim Tramnitz recovered seven positions from 13th on the grid to finish sixth ahead of Giusti, Ho, Wurz and Strømsted.

Camara managed to finish 12th on the road which saw his title lead cut slightly to eight points as Stenshorne moved into second ahead of Strømsted, Nael and Bedrin – who had been replaced by Slater for this round as the Brit claimed the fastest lap point which put him tenth in the standings.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Nikola Tsolov	Campos	19	39m 51.263
2	Freddie Slater	AIX Racing	19	+ 0.580
3	Tuukka Taponen	ART GP	19	+ 1.222
4	Callum Voisin	Rodin	19	+ 1.924
5	Martinius Stenshorne	Hitech GP	19	+ 2.939
6	Tim Tramnitz	MP Motorsport	19	+ 3.543
7	Alessandro Giusti	MP Motorsport	19	+ 4.246
8	Christian Ho	DAMS	19	+ 5.078
9	Charlie Wurz	Trident	19	+ 5.664
10	Noah Strømsted	Trident	19	+ 6.407
11	Noel Leon	PREMA	19	+ 6.796
12	Rafael Camara	Trident	19	+ 7.255
13	James Wharton	ART GP	19	+ 8.003
14	Louis Sharp	Rodin	19	+ 8.558
15	Mari Boya	Campos	19	+ 9.142
16	Laurens van Hoepen	ART GP	19	+ 9.781
17	Matias Zagazeta	DAMS	19	+ 10.342
18	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	Campos	19	+ 10.751
19	Bruno del Pino	MP Motorsport	19	+ 11.171
20	Roman Bilinski	Rodin	19	+ 11.638
21	Gerrard Xie	Hitech GP	19	+ 12.446
22	Brando Badoer	PREMA	19	+ 13.287
23	Javier Sagrera	AIX Racing	19	+ 17.232
24	Joshua Dufek	Hitech GP	14	Collision
25	Ivan Domingues	VAR	14	Collision
26	Santiago Ramos	VAR	13	Damage
27	Nicola Lacorte	DAMS	12	Mechanical
28	Theophile Nael	VAR	11	Mechanical
RET	Ugo Ugochukwu	PREMA	3	Spin
RET	Nicola Marinangeli	AIX Racing	2	Damage

 

Feature Race

Camara lost the lead off the line to Voisin who managed to get the inside line into the opening corner as Wurz and Ho held positions in third and fourth, whilst Del Pino lost fifth to Taponen who then dispatched Ho a lap later for fourth.

Up front, Voisin briefly lost the lead to Camara at the first corner of Lap 3 but regained the lead with a cutback out of Turn 4, yet couldn’t stop the Brazilian from repassing him two laps later into Turn 1 as the rookie soon afterwards sped away to a two-second plus gap.

Taponen meanwhile passed Wurz for third on Lap 7 into Turn 1 as the Finnish driver continued his strong weekend for ART GP.

Strømsted, Tramnitz and Tsolov dispatched Ho in quick succession but Strømsted lost fifth to Tramnitz on Lap 12 as the German got the cutback out of Turn 4, whilst Tsolov followed through a lap later.

Taponen eventually headed a DRS train come Lap 15 with Wurz, Tramnitz, Tsolov and Strømsted at the front of the chasing pack behind the ART GP driver, until Tramnitz passed Wurz for fourth around the outside of Turn 4 on Lap 17  then he repeated the move two laps later to take third from Taponen.

Camara eventually cruised to a comfortable victory over Voisin whilst Tramnitz rounded off the podium from 13th on the grid ahead of; Taponen, Tsolov, Strømsted, Giusti, Boya, Del Pino and Ho.

Camara extended his title lead to 24 points as Tramnitz and Voisin climbed to second and third respectively.

Position	Driver	Team	Laps	Time
1	Rafael Camara	Trident	22	42m 05.006
2	Callum Voisin	Rodin	22	+ 6.211
3	Tim Tramnitz	MP Motorsport	22	+ 7.884
4	Tuukka Taponen	ART GP	22	+ 10.693
5	Nikola Tsolov	Campos	22	+ 11.031
6	Noah Strømsted	Trident	22	+ 14.143
7	Alessandro Giusti	MP Motorsport	22	+ 14.457
8	Mari Boya	Campos	22	+ 17.258
9	Bruno del Pino	MP Motorsport	22	+ 18.289
10	Christian Ho	DAMS	22	+ 18.361
11	Charlie Wurz	Trident	22	+ 19.310
12	Laurens van Hoepen	ART GP	22	+ 29.307
13	Roman Bilinski	Rodin	22	+ 30.450
14	Santiago Ramos	VAR	22	+ 31.353
15	Theophile Nael	VAR	22	+ 32.424
16	Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak	Campos	22	+ 33.366
17	Noel Leon	PREMA	22	+ 35.793
18	Martinus Stenshorne	Hitech GP	22	+ 39.525
19	Ivan Domingues	VAR	22	+ 39.885
20	Nicola Lacorte	DAMS	22	+ 41.181
21	Brando Badoer	PREMA	22	+ 41.997
22	Javier Sagrera	AIX Racing	22	+ 46.434
23	Joshua Dufek	Hitech GP	22	+ 46.989
24	Louis Sharp	Rodin	22	+ 47.779
25	Nicola Marinangeli	AIX Racing	22	+ 49.536
26	Gerrard Xie	Hitech GP	22	+ 50.373
27	Ugo Ugochukwu	PREMA	22	+ 70.118
28	James Wharton	ART GP	22	+ 85.190
29	Matias Zagazeta	DAMS	22	+ 89.943
RET	Freddie Slater	AIX Racing	2	Mechanical