Rafael Camara sealed the 2025 Formula 3 Championship with a commanding Feature Race victory at the Hungaroring, making history by wrapping up the title with a round to spare.
The Trident driver dominated a rain-affected race, fending off challenges and capitalising on rivals’ misfortunes from qualifying to secure an early championship triumph on Sunday.
He shattered multiple records during his FRECA championship-winning campaign and has continued that form in F3 — setting a new benchmark for most pole positions in the junior series and now securing the title earlier than anyone has ever done before.
Completing the podium places was Mari Boya in second and Tuukka Taponen in third.
The championship leader lined up on pole at the start of the Feature Race after his last-gasp effort in qualifying, with Boya joining him on the front row.
His closest title rivals, Nikola Tsolov and Tim Tramnitz, started further down the order for the penultimate round of the championship.
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak’s Sprint Race victory on Saturday helped close the gap in the teams’ standings, with Campos Racing now just eight points behind Trident.
Camara leads as Tramnitz spins around
Just before the formation lap, heavy rain swept over Budapest, leaving a soaked track for the 30 drivers lining up for the Feature Race.
Given the treacherous conditions, race control opted to begin the formation lap behind the Safety Car, with a rolling start to follow.
Camara led the pack into Turn 1 and immediately began pulling away, building a gap at the front on the opening lap.
While the top positions remained largely unchanged early on, drama unfolded further back as Tramnitz spun and dropped down to 24th place.
Ugo Ugochukwu, meanwhile, climbed into fifth with a clean overtake on Theophile Nael into Turn 1 on Lap 2.
Out front, Camara and Boya had pulled five seconds clear of Tuukka Taponen in third by Lap 4, with the Spaniard steadily reeling in the race leader.
Just as Boya was beginning to close the gap, the Safety Car was deployed following a crash at Turn 13 involving Brad Benavides.
The AIX Racing driver made contact with Roman Bilinski and was sent into the barriers, bringing his race to an abrupt end.
Bilinski continued at the back of the field as the Safety Car peeled into the pits at the start of Lap 7.
Camara floored it out of Turn 13 to resume his lead into Turn 1, while Charlie Wurz seized sixth place from Nael.
Just behind, Ugochukwu got a strong run on Gerrard Xie for fourth, initiating a side-by-side battle that stretched from Turn 2 to Turn 5.
The American bravely swept around the outside of the Hitech driver — but the fight ended in contact.
Xie clipped the Prema car, sending both drivers off and bringing their races to a halt at the side of the track.
Tsolov climbs up the order after second Safety Car restart
The Safety Car returned once again for a third time and didn’t restart until the end of Lap 10.
The Trident driver preserved his lead ahead of Boya as, further down the order, Tsolov continued his charge — climbing into 11th and edging closer to the points.
Towards the rear, Noel Leon and James Hedley clashed at Turn 13 amid a multi-car scrap. Leon tapped Hedley into a spin, though the Brit managed to keep the car going.
Meanwhile, Tsolov overtook his team-mate Inthraphuvasak for 10th, then swiftly dispatched the ART duo of Wharton and Laurens van Hoepen to move up into eighth, with Alessandro Giusti now in his sights.
On Lap 14, the Bulgarian made the move stick at Turn 1 to take seventh, while van Hoepen snatched ninth from Wharton — allowing Inthraphuvasak to slip past the Australian into the final points-paying position.
Tsolov continued his charge, moving up into sixth ahead of Badoer, as the race transitioned to a timed format due to multiple interruptions.
Martinius Stenshorne and Bruno del Pino rolled the dice with a switch to slick tyres from the back of the field.
A handful of others followed suit, hoping for a strategic edge — but the track remained too wet for the crossover point to come into play.
Camara crowned champion after rain-soaked Hungarian Feature Race
Van Hoepen took Giusti for eighth as Wurz applied the pressure to Taponen for third place in the final few minutes of the Feature.
A four-way battle for the last spot on the podium ensued, with Nael and Tsolov also joining the fight at the front.
Camara extended his lead to over two seconds as he entered the final lap with the clock running out for the race.
He even took the fastest lap to add to his domination in the Feature and crossed the line to make history once again, following his compatriot Gabriel Bortoleto from 2023 in becoming F3 World Champion.
Boya settled for second and Taponen completed the top three in Budapest. Wurz narrowly missed out on a podium finish in fourth, with Nael ending up in fifth place just behind the Austrian.
Tsolov completed a spirited drive, which wasn’t enough to prevent Camara from taking the title, to finish sixth from 21st at the start.
Badoer finished seventh, van Hoepen eighth, Giusti ninth and Inthraphuvasak claimed the final point in the Feature Race.
Trident extends its lead in the Teams’ Standings to 19 points ahead of the Monza finale.
READ MORE – Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak holds off late challenge to win F3 Sprint Race in Hungary
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