The Spanish driver finished in seventh place in Saturday's race, the same race in which Colombian Montoya finished second but was dropped out of the top ten due to a subsequent penalty. Strømsted had a promising debut in the category
Campos Racing and its drivers couldn't wrap up the season as they would have liked due to small details that impacted the weekend in Monza, the final round of the FIA Formula 3 campaign. Colombian Sebas Montoya was the highest-placed Campos Racing driver, crossing the finish line in second place in Saturday's sprint race, but a later penalty from the stewards dropped him to eleventh place. As a result, Mari Boya was the Campos Racing driver who managed to score points in that same race. Meanwhile, Danish driver Noah Strømsted performed at a high level in his first appearance in this category.
On Friday, during the morning's free practice, Boya made a strong start by setting the fastest time of 1m38.172s, leaving his closest rival a tenth and a half behind. Strømsted impressed in his first kilometers with the Dallara F3, setting the twelfth-fastest time with a lap of 1m39.462s. Montoya, on the other hand, clocked a time of 1m39.582s. Later, in the qualifying sessions, divided into odd and even groups, it was challenging to avoid traffic and car blockages as drivers sought slipstreams. In Group A, Boya set the fifth-fastest time with a lap of 1m38.872s, while Danish Strømsted was twelfth with a lap of 1m39.877s. In Group B, Montoya placed third with a time of 1m38.899s.
Thus, in Saturday's sprint race with a reversed grid, Montoya was set to start from third place, while his teammate Boya started five places behind. When the lights went out, Montoya made a great start, overtaking Santiago Ramos to take second. Further back, Boya had also moved up to seventh and, just before the safety car came out on the second lap, he passed Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak to gain another position. On lap six, the race resumed with Montoya keeping Dino Beganovic at bay. Boya and Sami Meguetounif also exchanged positions a couple of times. Although Ramos passed Montoya on lap 9, three laps later, the Colombian regained his spot on the podium. After another safety car period, the race returned to green for a one-lap sprint. After that lap, Montoya crossed the line in second place. However, in the battle with Ramos, the stewards judged that Montoya didn't leave enough space for Ramos, imposing a five-second penalty that dropped him to eleventh place. With this penalty, Boya moved up to seventh place in the final race standings. Strømsted finished 17th.
On Sunday, in the main race, Campos Racing's drivers managed to avoid incidents on the first lap. Soon after, however, the safety car came out as several drivers got stuck in the gravel trap. On lap 7, the safety car left the track again, but unfortunately, on this occasion, Montoya and Boya were involved in an incident at the first chicane that forced them to pit. The Colombian driver was able to finish the race, albeit in a lowly position (21st), while Boya had to retire. Strømsted finished 23rd in this race.
The year concludes with two wins and five podiums for Campos Racing drivers, which secured fourth place in the teams' standings with 179 points. In the drivers' standings, Goethe was the best of the team’s drivers, finishing seventh.
Preparations for the 2025 season are now underway, with more details to be revealed soon.
Photos: © Dutch Photo Agency
