For the fourth consecutive round, the Bulgarian driver secured a place on the podium, and with a fifth-place finish on Sunday, he now sits second in the overall standings. Boya and Inthraphuvasak also brought home points for Campos Racing at the team’s home event
The 2025 FIA Formula 3 season reached its halfway point at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and it did so with a largely positive outcome for Campos Racing — especially for Nikola Tsolov, who has taken a major step forward in the title fight. The "Bulgarian Lion," who hadn’t missed a podium since Bahrain with two wins and two third-place finishes, continued his streak in Montmeló. For local driver Mari Boya, Saturday’s sprint race provided a chance to recover from a difficult qualifying with an impressive comeback, mirrored by his teammate, Thailand’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak. Both drivers climbed into the points-paying positions, making it a collective team effort that placed all three Campos Racing cars in the top ten.
In Friday's opening free practice, the weekend’s dominant theme — the heat — was already looming. With track temperatures exceeding 30ºC, Boya briefly topped the timesheets with a 1:29.502 lap, which was later beaten but still good enough for third at the end of the session. Inthraphuvasak and Tsolov also placed inside the top ten: the Thai driver seventh with a 1:29.715 and Tsolov tenth at 1:29.795.
If conditions were already demanding in the morning, qualifying at 3 p.m. turned into a furnace, with track temperatures above 50ºC. Drivers had to be extremely cautious not to overheat their tires before their flying laps. Inthraphuvasak was effective early on and provisionally placed second with a 1:29.433 on his first set of tires. Despite the heat, times kept improving and the final grid was decided in the closing minutes. Tsolov delivered when it mattered, setting a 1:28.977 to secure second on the grid behind Rafael Câmara. Boya and Inthraphuvasak were less fortunate, unable to improve on their earlier laps, and ended up 15th and 16th with times of 1:29.432 and 1:29.433 respectively. Additionally, the Thai driver received a three-place grid penalty for impeding another car in qualifying.
Saturday’s sprint race, scheduled for 21 laps, turned into a survival test from the start — one that the Campos Racing drivers passed with flying colors. When the lights went out, Tuukka Taponen stalled on the grid, and while most drivers avoided him, Câmara collided and was forced to retire — a major blow to the championship leader. At the first chicane, Tim Tramnitz triggered a multi-car incident that also took out Martinius Stenshorne and Roman Bilinski. Amid the chaos, the safety car was deployed. By the end of lap one, Tsolov — who had started P11 on the reversed grid — was already up to fifth. Inthraphuvasak had climbed to 12th, with Boya just behind in 14th. With so many retirements, the race didn’t restart until lap 6. Once green flag conditions returned, it was clear the Campos Racing cars had excellent race pace. Boya and Inthraphuvasak swapped positions on lap 11 and then began climbing the order together. On separate laps, they each overtook Louis Sharp and Bruno del Pino, both moves completed at the SEAT corner. Up front, Tsolov passed Laurens van Hoepen for fourth, then inherited third when Noah Strømsted retired from P2 with a technical issue. With Câmara out of the race, Tsolov managed his tires to secure his fourth podium of the season and close the gap in the championship. Boya finished seventh, Inthraphuvasak ninth — marking the first time all three Campos Racing drivers scored points in the same race this season.
Sunday’s race got underway promptly at 8:30 a.m. Tsolov, who had made a stunning start the day before, was betrayed by the clutch at lights out, almost stalling and dropping from P2 to P8. But with 25 laps ahead, there was time to recover. Boya made up several positions at the start but had to take the escape road in the tight first chicane. Although he rejoined following the race director’s instructions, he was handed a 10-second penalty. Inthraphuvasak emerged from lap one within the top fifteen. The safety car was deployed on lap 3 and came in five laps later. Almost immediately, Tsolov attacked Ivan Domingues and pulled off a stunning move around the outside after running side-by-side through several corners in sector one. When Taponen ran into trouble mid-race, Tsolov moved up to sixth. His next target was Stenshorne, and after two failed attempts, he finally passed the Norwegian. The safety car returned on lap 18 and was withdrawn with four laps remaining. Tsolov now had van Hoepen ahead but didn’t have enough time to mount a full challenge, settling for a well-earned fifth. Boya crossed the line in ninth, but his penalty dropped him to 22nd. Inthraphuvasak finished 11th, just shy of the points.
With five rounds remaining — the same number already completed — Tsolov now sits second in the drivers’ standings with 79 points. Boya’s 36 and Inthraphuvasak’s 15 bring Campos Racing to second in the teams’ standings with a total of 130 points.
The sixth round of the season will take place at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg on June 28–29.
Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): “Overall, it was a week where we matched our points target, above 15 points, but it still could have been much better and we didn’t quite get what we wanted. Qualifying was saved at the last moment with a P2, which was great. Obviously, we wanted pole, but considering the circumstances, it was a good result. Then the sprint race was a comeback drive from P11 to P3, and we collected many more points than expected. On Sunday, we were sitting P2 and aiming for the win—maybe a little bit too much. I went too aggressive with the clutch, which caused the car to stall and made me lose a lot of positions at the start. Still, I came back to P5, which is a good result considering what happened, but definitely not where we want to be. Anyway, I’m the driver who has scored the most points over the last three rounds, so that’s a good sign for the rest of the season. We keep pushing in the fight for the championship.”
Mari Boya (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): “I wasn’t expecting such a hard weekend at home. Honestly, we had the pace all along, but a mistake in qualifying set us back a bit and made it hard to fight for good points in the race. Now it's time to take a rest and come back stronger.”
Tasanapol Inhtraphuvasak (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): “Triple header ticked off. These three weeks have been quite difficult for me. The speed is definitely there to be fighting at the front end but struggling to put everything together. The team and I are working extremely hard during this short break to show what we can do in the second half of the season and I can’t wait.”
Photos: © Dutch Photo Agency
