Roundup of the ninth round of the 2025 F3 season as the grid touched down in Hungary for the penultimate weekend of the campaign.
Trident’s Rafael Camara arrived in Hungary with a 28-point lead over Campos’ Nikola Tsolov, which gave him a chance to wrap up the title with a round to spare.
Camara’s chances received further boosts after Tsolov struggled to match his rival across qualifying and sprint race, which left the Brazilian on course for the title which was ultimately settled amidst the drama of a wet feature race.
Practice
A quiet start saw nobody venture out until Hitech GP’s Nikita Johnson and Gerrard Xie both hit the track in the sixth minute and Johnson set 1m 58.396 as the initial benchmark, which Xie beat by 0.669 seconds.
Both drivers subsequently lowered their benchmarks on their next laps as Xie set 1m 36.476 in the 12th minute, before PREMA’s Brando Badoer headed a queue of drivers who beat that time as Camara led at the halfway mark with 1m 34.138 from Tsolov.
MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz subsequently lowered the benchmark to 1m 34.050 in the 29th minute but Camara hit back eight minutes later with a session-topping 1m 33.888, which was 0.064s quicker than AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides.
The session concluded with four minutes left on the clock after the red flags came out following a stoppage for Tsolov due to mechanical issues.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Rafael Camara | Trident | 1m 33.888 |
| 2 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | + 0.064 |
| 3 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin | + 0.265 |
| 4 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos | + 0.400 |
| 5 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | + 0.415 |
| 6 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | + 0.429 |
| 7 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | + 0.513 |
| 8 | Bruno del Pino | MP Motorsport | + 0.560 |
| 9 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 0.653 |
| 10 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA | + 0.670 |
| 11 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.695 |
| 12 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.731 |
| 13 | Noel Leon | PREMA | + 0.792 |
| 14 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | + 0.894 |
| 15 | Brando Badoer | PREMA | + 0.898 |
| 16 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | + 0.951 |
| 17 | Santiago Ramos | VAR | + 0.961 |
| 18 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | + 0.965 |
| 19 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 0.986 |
| 20 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | + 1.002 |
| 21 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 1.040 |
| 22 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | + 1.052 |
| 23 | Theophile Nael | VAR | + 1.053 |
| 24 | James Wharton | ART GP | + 1.069 |
| 25 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | + 1.093 |
| 26 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | + 1.369 |
| 27 | Christian Ho | DAMS | + 1.571 |
| 28 | Ivan Domingues | VAR | + 1.618 |
| 29 | Nikita Johnson | Hitech GP | + 1.671 |
| 30 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | + 1.683 |
Qualifying
Badoer, Leon and Ugochukwu were first out on track as every team except Campos ventured out for an early opening run, which saw Badoer lay 1m 33.858 as the initial benchmark time yet several drivers managed to beat his effort on their first fliers.
Once the early runners completed their first timed laps, Stromsted headed the field from Van Hoepen by 0.055s whilst Camara’s time was deleted due to track limits breach as the Campos trio instead ran in the gap.
Campos’ gamble paid off as Boya went quickest in the 12th minute on 1m 33.013 from Inthraphuvasak by 0.373s, whilst Tsolov slotted into fourth.
Wurz however lowered the benchmark five minutes later to 1m 32.737 to go top from Ugochukwu, but Boya produced 1m 32.653 to go quickest yet Tapponen with two minutes left went onto provisional pole by 0.001s from the Spaniard.
Boya and Camara however left it until the checkered flag to post their best laps, which ultimately saw Camara snatch pole by 0.008s from Boya after the Brazilian produced 1m 32.510 to claim his fifth pole position of the season.
Tapponen settled for third ahead of Xie who achieved his best qualifying result of fourth on the grid whilst Nael qualified fifth ahead of; Wurz, Ugochukwu, Badoer, Giusti, Wharton, Hedley and Inthraphuvasak who took reverse-pole for the sprint.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Rafael Camara | Trident | 1m 32.510 |
| 2 | Mari Boya | Campos | + 0.008 |
| 3 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | + 0.142 |
| 4 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | + 0.153 |
| 5 | Theophile Nael | VAR | + 0.154 |
| 6 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | + 0.227 |
| 7 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA | + 0.228 |
| 8 | Brando Badoer | PREMA | + 0.253 |
| 9 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | + 0.305 |
| 10 | James Wharton | ART GP | + 0.329 |
| 11 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | + 0.345 |
| 12 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos | + 0.384 |
| 13 | Noel Leon | PREMA | + 0.391 |
| 14 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | + 0.394 |
| 15 | Santiago Ramos | VAR | + 0.409 |
| 16 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | + 0.423 |
| 17 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | + 0.427 |
| 18 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin | + 0.473 |
| 19 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | + 0.484 |
| 20 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | + 0.515 |
| 21 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | + 0.527 |
| 22 | Ivan Domingues | VAR | + 0.5531 |
| 23 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | + 0.584 |
| 24 | Christian Ho | DAMS | + 0.607 |
| 25 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | + 0.651 |
| 26 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | + 0.652 |
| 27 | Bruno del Pino | MP Motorsport | + 0.785 |
| 28 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | + 1.025 |
| 29 | Nikita Johnson | Hitech GP | + 1.266 |
| 30 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | + 1.327 |
Sprint Race
At lights out, Inthraphuvasak led from reverse-pole ahead of Hedley and Wharton, whilst Giusti lost fourth to Badoer.
Giusti subsequently crashed out at Turn 13 after his front-left suspension failed following contact with Ugochukwu on the exit of the previous corner.
The safety car subsequently was deployed for two laps and when racing resumed at the start of lap 4, Ugochukwu cleared Wurz for fifth.
Camara meanwhile ran on the cusp of the top ten but was illegally passed by Benavides at turn 8 which led the American to concede two positions when he gave the position back a lap later, with Leon having cleared Camara in the mean time.
Tyre wear soon began to play a part as Leon and Camara cleared Tapponen then Xie on the following laps to go eighth and ninth by the end of lap 12.
Up front, Inthraphuvasak struggled to shake off Hedley until the latter’s tyres hit the cliff and he lost second to Ugochukwu on lap 13.
Wurz meanwhile cleared Wharton for fourth into turn 1 on lap 15 but the safety car was soon deployed later that lap after Leon collided with Nael on the entry into turn 4, then again on the run-off area, which saw the Mexican spin to a halt on the inside of turn 5.
Racing recommenced on lap 19 as Inthraphuvasak fought off Ugochukwu for his second victory of the season as Wurz rounded out the podium, after the Austrian dived up the inside of Hedley on the restart to snatch third and a maiden F3 podium away from the Brit.
Wharton, Badoer, Boya, Camara, Nael and Xie rounded out the top ten.
Camara’s eighth-placed finish saw him extend his title lead over Tsolov to 33 points which meant that he needed just seven points in the Feature Race to wrap up the title with a round to spare.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos | 19 | 35m 28.270 |
| 2 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA | 19 | + 0.820 |
| 3 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | 19 | + 1.430 |
| 4 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | 19 | + 4.347 |
| 5 | James Wharton | ART GP | 19 | + 4.645 |
| 6 | Brando Badoer | PREMA | 19 | + 4.977 |
| 7 | Mari Boya | Campos | 19 | + 5.125 |
| 8 | Rafael Camara | Trident | 19 | + 5.500 |
| 9 | Theophile Nael | VAR | 19 | + 5.852 |
| 10 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | 19 | + 6.559 |
| 11 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | 19 | + 6.910 |
| 12 | Santiago Ramos | VAR | 19 | + 7.752 |
| 13 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 19 | + 8.144 |
| 14 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin | 19 | + 8.619 |
| 15 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos | 19 | + 8.918 |
| 16 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | 19 | + 9.126 |
| 17 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | 19 | + 9.433 |
| 18 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 19 | + 9.988 |
| 19 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 19 | + 10.759 |
| 20 | Christian Ho | DAMS | 19 | + 10.992 |
| 21 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | 19 | + 11.356 |
| 22 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 19 | + 12.394 |
| 23 | Nikita Johnson | Hitech GP | 19 | + 12.689 |
| 24 | Ivan Domingues | VAR | 19 | + 14.511 |
| 25 | Bruno del Pino | MP Motorsport | 19 | + 15.309 |
| 26 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | 19 | + 23.794 |
| 27 | Noel Leon | PREMA | 14 | Collision |
| 28 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | 13 | Suspension |
| 29 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | 7 | Suspension |
| 30 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 0 | Suspension |
Feature Race
Overnight rain caused the formation lap to be ran under the safety car whilst stewards assessed conditions, which led to an immediate rolling start led by Camara as the top four held position, as Ugochukwu improved to fifth ahead of Nael and Wurz.
Tramnitz however spun on the inside kerb of turn 8 after he took action to avoid Ramos who had been slow out of the corner on the exit.
The safety car however was deployed on lap four after Benavides spun out on the exit of turn 13 on the previous lap after he clipped the inside of Bilinksi, having ran wide through the outside line of the corner.
Racing resumed on lap 7 but the safety car was redeployed after Xie ran wide out of turn 4 which gave Ugochukwu the momentum on the outside into turn 5, only for Xie to lose control and spun both drivers out of contention for a podium.
Racing recommenced on lap 11 as Camara led Boya to the checkered flag to become the first driver in modern F3 to secure the title with a round to spare, whilst Boya’s second-placed finish lifted him up to second in the standings ahead of Tsolov by two points.
Tapponen rounded out the podium after he survived a late scrap to hold off Wurz and Nael, whilst Tsolov drove from 21st on the grid to finish sixth.
Badoer, Van Hoepen, Giusti and Inthraphuvasak rounded out the top ten.
F3 now takes its’ annual summer break and returns to action at Monza, Italy, for the 2025 season finale between 5-7 September.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Rafael Camara | Trident | 23 | 47m 14.331 |
| 2 | Mari Boya | Campos | 23 | + 1.9 |
| 3 | Tuukka Taponen | ART GP | 23 | + 12.9 |
| 4 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | 23 | + 13.6 |
| 5 | Theophile Nael | VAR | 23 | + 14.1 |
| 6 | Nikola Tsolov | ART GP | 23 | + 14.9 |
| 7 | Brando Badoer | PREMA | 23 | + 20.9 |
| 8 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART GP | 23 | + 21.7 |
| 9 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 23.2 |
| 10 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos | 23 | + 25.0 |
| 11 | Louis Sharp | Rodin | 23 | + 25.3 |
| 12 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | 23 | + 25.9 |
| 13 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 30.7 |
| 14 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin | 23 | + 32.0 |
| 15 | Callum Voisin | Rodin | 23 | + 35.0 |
| 16 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | 23 | + 38.1 |
| 17 | Noel Leon | PREMA | 23 | + 38.7 |
| 18 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | 23 | + 42.9 |
| 19 | Santiago Ramos | VAR | 23 | + 43.3 |
| 20 | Christian Ho | DAMS | 23 | + 44.7 |
| 21 | Nikita Johnson | Hitech GP | 23 | + 48.0 |
| 22 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | 23 | + 56.8 |
| 23 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | 23 | + 73.7 |
| 24 | Ivan Domingues | VAR | 23 | + 78.5 |
| 25 | Bruno del Pino | MP Motorsport | 22 | + 1 Lap |
| 26 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 22 | + 1 Lap |
| 27 | James Wharton | ART GP | 20 | Mechanical |
| 28 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech GP | 23 | Collision |
| 29 | Ugo Ugochukwu | PREMA | 24 | Collision |
| 30 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | 24 | Spin |
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