The Thai driver secured his second win of the current season during Saturday’s race in Hungary. Boya, after a thrilling battle for victory, ultimately claimed a valuable second place on Sunday. Tsolov impressed with a remarkable charge in the wet, making his way up to sixth
It was another fruitful weekend for Campos Racing in the ninth round of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, held this past weekend at the Hungaroring. Now only one round remains, set to take place at Monza after the summer break. The team from Alzira celebrated its fifth win of the season, this time thanks to Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who had already opened his victory tally a few weeks ago at Silverstone. Mari Boya, for his part, claimed his fifth podium of the 2025 season, doing so in extremely challenging conditions brought on by the rain, which saw him engaged in a thrilling duel right up to the checkered flag. That same rain also provided the stage for a standout drive by Nikola Tsolov, who delivered a performance worthy of his talent and picked up crucial points for the championship.
Track action got underway on Friday morning with the free practice session, which already showed how competitive the Campos Racing cars were on Hungarian soil. Inthraphuvasak, Tsolov and Boya all finished the session among the top ten fastest. The Thai driver set the fourth quickest time with a 1m34.288s. However, sixth place for Bulgarian Tsolov (1m34.317s) came with disappointment, as electrical issues meant he couldn’t even complete the session. Boya, meanwhile, was ninth-fastest with a lap of 1m34.541s.
Qualifying took place early in the afternoon and, at a circuit often referred to as “Monaco without walls,” it was almost decisive. Two things quickly became clear: Boya had the pace to fight for pole position, while Tsolov’s earlier issues would shape his entire weekend. Campos Racing engineers opted for a strategy of sending their drivers out on track after most of the field had already completed their first runs and returned to the pits, avoiding traffic. On his first attempt, Boya went to the top of the timesheets with a 1m33.013s, just ahead of Inthraphuvasak, who was second, three tenths behind. As the session progressed, lap times improved, but Boya reclaimed P1 with a 1m32.653s. A last-minute effort by Rafael Câmara saw him clock a 1m32.510s, just snatching pole from Boya. The Spanish driver managed to improve again and ended up only eight thousandths off Câmara’s time. Inthraphuvasak ultimately qualified twelfth with a 1m32.894s lap, which handed him pole position for Saturday’s reverse grid race. Tsolov, still plagued by mechanical woes, couldn’t go faster than 1m33.037s and had to settle for 21st.
Saturday’s race, scheduled for 19 laps, had Inthraphuvasak starting from pole position. When the lights went out, the Thai driver held off the challenges of James Hedley and James Wharton into Turn 1 to retain the lead. A couple of incidents on the opening lap brought out the safety car just as the field crossed the line for the first time, with Inthraphuvasak in the lead, Boya already up to eighth, and Tsolov in 19th. After a few laps behind the safety car, racing resumed with Inthraphuvasak maintaining control ahead of Hedley. Tire management was key in such a long race. Behind, the main threat was Ugo Ugochukwu, who first passed Wharton and then overtook Hedley on lap 11 to chase down Inthraphuvasak. Despite the pressure, the Thai driver kept the American at bay, even after a contact between Théophile Naël and Noel León on lap 15 brought out the safety car once again. The restart came with just one lap to go, and Inthraphuvasak handled it perfectly, leaving Ugochukwu without a chance to challenge. After 19 laps, the Campos Racing driver crossed the line to take his second win of the season. Boya, who again scored points, finished seventh, though he felt that without the second safety car, his pace at the end might have been strong enough to gain further positions. Tsolov finished 15th, with several noteworthy overtakes, including one on Noah Strømsted.
As mentioned earlier, rain took center stage on Sunday. Although it had stopped raining by the time the race began, a downpour around 30 minutes prior meant conditions were very tricky for the drivers. The formation lap was run behind the safety car and the race had a rolling start to minimize risks. It quickly became clear that Câmara, the polesitter, and Boya were in a league of their own. By lap 3, when the first safety car appeared, they had already pulled more than four seconds clear of the third-placed driver. Tsolov was up to 17th by then. Racing resumed four laps later, but another incident toward the front brought the safety car out again. The race went green again on lap 10, with Câmara and Boya once again pulling away, while Tsolov — now unleashed — began pulling off impressive overtakes, including a move around the outside of Hedley that he would repeat more than once — showcasing the fearless style of the “Bulgarian Lion.” Câmara and Boya traded fastest laps, extending their lead, and by lap 14 they had a gap of over five seconds to third-placed Taponen. At that point, Tsolov was already sixth and Inthraphuvasak was running in tenth. Boya saved his wet tires for the final stages, mounting one last charge on the leader and even setting the fastest lap of the race — and earning the bonus point — but ultimately couldn’t find a way past the Brazilian. Second place was a just reward. Tsolov crossed the line in sixth, while Inthraphuvasak completed the points-paying positions in tenth.
With only two races remaining, Boya and Tsolov sit second and third in the drivers’ standings with 108 and 106 points respectively. With the title already clinched by Câmara, both Campos Racing drivers are now locked in a close battle for the runner-up spot, as Tim Tramnitz has fallen back. Inthraphuvasak is 12th in the standings with 49 points. In the teams’ championship, nothing is decided yet: Campos Racing is second with 263 points, just 19 behind leaders Trident.
All will be decided in Monza on the weekend of September 6–7.
Mari Boya (Campos Racing driver in FIA Formula 3): "It’s been a fantastic weekend here in Hungary. Honestly, I felt really comfortable from the very beginning. The team did an amazing job and gave me a great car, both in the dry and in wet conditions. Today, starting from second, I knew the win was definitely within reach. Even so, the conditions didn’t quite play in our favour, but we fought all the way to the end. I’m very happy with this second place, which also brings in great points for the championship — we now move up to second. Huge thanks to the whole team."
Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing driver in FIA Formula 3): “Already in FP, I had some electrical issues, and then gearbox problems again in Quali, which made everything more complicated and led to the worst Quali of the year. The Sprint Race was difficult for overtaking on track due to the dirty air and the lack of straights offering opportunities, so I only managed to make up a few places. Then the Feature Race was wet, where I felt very confident and connected with the car, so I managed to extract everything and put together a comeback drive from P21 to P6. A positive way to go into the summer break and, nevertheless, still in the top 3 of the championship. Looking forward to resetting over summer and coming back strong for the end of the season.”
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Campos Racing driver in FIA Formula 3): “Really happy to get my second win of the season in Budapest. I still felt like the weekend was far from maximized even with these results which shows our potential. One more round to go, really motivated to finish the season on a high and build on the step we have made in the second half of the season.”
