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RACE ANALYSIS: Why the Barcelona weekend might have been Câmara’s best
Rafael Câmara’s special start to the year continued in Barcelona after the TRIDENT driver secured a record-breaking fourth Formula 3 Pole Position, before winning his third Feature Race of 2025.
It was arguably the Brazilian’s best performance of the campaign, as it was clear that he had learned a lot from the recent lessons of Bahrain and Imola, particularly at the latter, to put in a more well-rounded showing.
READ MORE: Voisin reflects on ‘pretty disappointing’ Barcelona weekend for Rodin
So, as we continue to debrief Round 5 in Barcelona, here is where Câmara made the difference…
QUALIFYING ADVANTAGE
Câmara’s strongest point this year has been Qualifying, and as the season has gone on, the rookie looks to be only getting better over one lap, as his gap to P2 seems to be growing.
In Melbourne, it was 0.129s to teammate Noah Stromsted, while in Sakhir, he led Callum Voisin by 0.156s.
Câmara then took pole in Imola by 0.231s over Santiago Ramos, and while his margin to Nikola Tsolov in Barcelona was 0.216s, he aborted his third lap with P1 already confirmed.
If you take the Brazilian driver’s advantage from after his second and final push lap of the session, he was 0.345s clear of Laurens van Hoepen in P2.
So, as Câmara has returned to tracks he is more familiar with, his margin to the rest of the field has grown. But there was still a question mark over how he would do in the Feature Race.
FEATURE RACE IMPROVEMENTS
That is because Câmara’s performances on Sundays off late have not been perfect, despite his victory in Bahrain and his P3 in Imola.
He also struggled in Monte Carlo, but as every team member and driver routinely states, Monaco is its own separate entity, just because of how unique the track and weekend is compared to the other nine rounds.
A Red Flag and traffic hampered Câmara in Qualifying, and that put him on the back foot for the Feature, where he had an issue that knocked him out of the race when he was battling for points.
However, in Imola – which was more representative – not only did he get overtaken for the win by Ramos, but he also lost out on second place to his teammate Stromsted.
Explaining why after the race, he said: “I struggled a bit with the tyres. I tried to break the DRS but maybe I pushed a bit too much and the tyres were not alive in the end.
“I just think I was too confident I could break the DRS, and I pushed too much on the tyres. After, I got the drop, and after you drop the tyres, you lose the grip… it is something to learn for next time.”
This was a huge lesson for the Championship leader as not once in Barcelona – a track known to be incredibly hard on the tyres – did Câmara push on his tyres, or try to break the DRS advantage.
FEATURE RACE: Câmara in control to win third race of 2025
Throughout the entire race, the TRIDENT driver had van Hoepen and Théophile Nael right behind him, both within DRS range, but he never tried to break the one second barrier.
Only once, on Lap 9, did Câmara’s lead go over one second and that was just after a Safety Car restart when DRS was not yet activated.
Câmara managed the gap expertly, and in the end, van Hoepen and Nael started to battle for second at the second Safety Car restart. The Van Amersfoort Racing rookie got past, which allowed the Scuderia Ferrari Academy member to escape up the road.
Speaking after winning by 2.1s, he revealed that what happened in Imola had a big impact on how he went about his business.
“A very good race, it went very smoothly,” said the Brazilian. “We had a good start, a clean one. After that I was just thinking about tyres the whole time, especially after what happened in Imola.
READ MORE: Round 5 Post Feature Race thoughts from the Top 3
“I just wanted to make sure I had it all under control. Then good Safety Car restarts and we got the win so very happy with the result, and a big thanks to the team who fixed the car for today and made sure everything was perfect.”
A KEY START
As Câmara mentioned he had a good start, and that was key to managing the tyres. When in the lead, you do not follow in the dirty air of the car ahead of you. But you also get to control the pace of the race, and how much you have to push.
In two of his first three pole position starts this year, Câmara had lost the lead in the opening corners of Lap 1. The only time he kept it was at the rolling start in wet conditions at Melbourne.
In Bahrain, Câmara lost the lead to Voisin at Turn 1, while in Imola, Ramos took P1 by going around his outside into Turn 2. On both occasions, the TRIDENT driver took back the position, but only after a few laps of trying, which would have damaged the tyres.
It didn’t affect him in Bahrain, such was his pace advantage but it did in Imola, as he lost the victory.
In Barcelona, he made sure that he was ahead into Turn 1, which was helped by his fellow front-row starter Tsolov not getting off the line well.
READ MORE: Inthraphuvasak happy with comeback drive to points and Campos pace in Barcelona
But van Hoepen had a good launch from third, and Câmara made sure to cover him off immediately, shutting down any chance of another car going down his inside into T1, which is always the danger. From then on, he could manage things out in front expertly.
Now, had Câmara lost the lead at the start, it is possible he would have eventually taken the place back and won, but it was not a risk he was willing to take, and he could manage things well for all 25 laps.
This shows that no matter how well a driver is performing, they can always get better. Câmara had already made a brilliant start to the season, but he still found an area to work on and improve, and this makes him an even more formidable opponent for the next half of the campaign.