Trident racing driver Rafael Camara was victorious in the opening Feature Race of the 2025 Formula 3 season as heavy rain brought the race to a premature end.

On Lap 18, the red flag was waved after successive laps behind the Safety Car, as the stewards announced the Feature Race would not resume due to the weather.

Therefore, Camara would come back into the pits as the race winner in Melbourne, ahead of his team-mate, Noah Stromsted, to make it a one-two for Trident.

Theophile Nael rounded off the podium places for Van Amersfoort Racing.

VAR’s Santiago Ramos kicked off the 2025 F3 season with victory in an incident-packed Sprint Race as the Safety Car was called into action twice.

Heading into the Feature Race, James Wharton was handed a five-place grid penalty after receiving a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision in the Sprint.

As he failed to finish the race, the time penalty was converted into a grid drop for the following race.

Lining up from pole position was Camara, after he set the fastest lap time during Friday’s qualifying session.

How the first F3 Feature Race of the year unfolded

An unfamiliar sight on the streets of Melbourne, the rain came pouring down onto the track.

The stewards announced minutes before lights out that the formation lap would begin behind the Safety Car, with all drivers set to start the race on the wet-weather tyres.

After four formation laps, a rolling start ensued as Camara made an excellent start, pulling out a sizeable gap to his team-mate as the 30 drivers attempted to navigate the tricky conditions.

With the top 10 remaining unchanged on Lap 1, the Safety Car was brought out once again.

Nikola Tsolov, in the Campos Racing car, squeezed Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin into the wall, with the pair making contact.

Both drivers were left stranded on the grass after the collision, unable to continue.

After the cars were recovered, the racing resumed on Lap 5, as Camara once again nailed the start to continue leading the Feature race.

Heading into Lap 6, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in the Campos applied heavy pressure to Trident’s Charlie Wurz in sixth place.

By Lap 7, the Brazillian racing driver had pulled out a two-second gap to Stromsted in second place.

On the following lap, Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne made a late lunge on Prema Racing driver Ugochukwu into Turn 3 to snatch eighth place.

Many drivers struggled to keep the cars on the track as the rain continued to fall down onto the circuit.

On Lap 9, Rodin’s Roman Bilinski barged past Ugo Ugochukwu to move up into ninth place.

The Polish driver battled hard with Stenshorne and Inthraphuvasak for seventh place.

Two laps later, Matias Zagazeta tagged Alessandro Giusti in the MP Motorsport car heading into Turn 13, and the DAMS Lucas Oil competitor received a 10-second time penalty for his actions.

For the second time, the Safety Car was called into action after an incident on Lap 14.

DAMS’ Christian Ho crashed after losing control of his car between Turn 6 and 7, before he was sent careering into the wall.

As a result, Camara lost his significant lead over Stromsted as heavy rain began to fall.

The Safety Car remained on track until Lap 18, when the red flag was eventually shown due to the excessive standing water on the track.

Soon after, the stewards announced that the race would not be resumed as Camara clinched his maiden victory in F3.

The required laps had been completed, meaning full points were to be rewarded.

Trident secured a one-two after Stromsted finished second, ahead of Nael in third place.

Nikita Bedrin finished in fourth, Tim Tramnitz in fifth, and Wurz sixth.

Inthraphuvasak ended the race in seventh, Stenshorne eighth, Bilinski in ninth, and Ugochukwu was the last of the point-scorers in 10th.

With victory at Albert Park, Camara has settled into an early championship lead, ahead of Nael in second and Stromsted in third.

Looking at the Teams’ Championship, Trident have made a good start, residing in first place with VAR in second and AIX Racing in third.

READ MORE: Santiago Ramos wins Melbourne F3 Sprint under Safety Car

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Santiago Ramos won the opening Formula 3 race of 2025, in an incident-packed race which ended under the Safety Car.

The Van Amersfoort Racing driver led from pole position and held off the challenge of Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne to claim victory, as a frantic battle for victory truncated by the Safety Car appearing after a shunt between Javiar Sagrera and Bruno Del Pinto.

Rodin’s Roman Bilinski took third in his first-ever F3 race, with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak fourth for Campos.

Magias Zagazeta fifth in his DAMS Lucas Oil, with AIX’s Nikita Bedrin sixth, followed by Ramos’ team-mate Theophile Nael in seventh.

Nikola Tsolov was eighth, with Britain’s Callum Voisin ninth, and Noel Leon 10th.

How the first F3 race of 2025 unfolded

At lights out, Ramos held on to his lead despite Zagazeta’s fast start. At Turn 2, Bilinski got up to third, as Charlie Wurz found himself in problems, and off onto the grass into Turn 5, the Austrian having touched Tim Tramnitz and coming off worse and immediately parking on the run off.

As Ramos opened-up a big gap already, a bottleneck appeared on the exit of Turn 13, with Stenshorne having moving from fifth to first in two corners, with Inthraphuvasak outbreaking himself. Behind, Josh Dufek and Louis Sharp touched, sending both men in for repairs.

A virtual safety car was signalled and after going green a lap later, there would be further chaos at the same corner to trigger a full Safety Car this time around.

James Wharton appeared to enter the corner a bit too deep, and in turn, touched Rafael Camara and Laurens Van Hoepen, the latter two out on the spot, with Wharton able to return to the pits but would go no further.

As Dufek was given a time penalty for his role in the incident with Sharp, Tramnitz seemed to be out, crawling to a halt in his MP Motorsport on the pit entrance, but then got going again, drove through the pit lane and back onto the circuit, but now in last.

With the race now in the eighth lap and still under the Safety Car, Tramnitz’s problems finally appeared to condemn him to retirement, coasting around and managing to bring his stricken car back to the pits.

The Safety Car would return to the pits at the start of Lap 9, and Ramos timed his restart perfectly, opening a half-second lead into the lap, with Bedrin and Nael jostling for sixth, giving the top five a chance to pull ahead.

Noel Leon made his way into the top 10, as Ugo Ugochukwu, who had started fifth, finding himself struggling to gain any momentum, as he would slip down the pecking order to 13th, having dropped five places on the first lap alone.

Now at half-distance, Ramos was now ahead by nearly a second, but with DRS now open, Stenshorne’s Hitech was suddenly all over the back of the Ramos’ Van Amersfoort, but the Mexican would keep himself ahead.

The top five were well clear of the rest, with Inthraphuvasak, Zagazeta and Bilinski keeping tabs on the Ramos-Stenshorne battle.

Lap 13, and Ramos was beginning to feel the heat from Stenshorne, going deep into T13 as he defended, but just stayed ahead of the Norwegian and continued to do so even when he tried to sell a dummy into T3 on the next lap.

Inthraphuvasak took Zagazeta for fourth, as the status quo remained at the front, but Bilinski was now the only one of the rest of the top five to keep himself close to Ramos and Stenshorne, and was beginning to sniff at victory himself.

Just as the rhythm seemed to be unerring, the Safety Car was back out, as two Spaniards in the shape of Sagrera and Del Pinto coming together, the former’s AIX in the gravel at T6, and the latter’s MP nose-first in the barrier, the pair seemingly having tangled into the braking zone.

The Safety Car’s appearance was welcome news for Ramos, as gravel strewn over the track at the exit of T7 needing to be cleared by marshals, frantically sweeping it back into the run-off area.

With the Safety Car’s lights staying on at the end of Lap 19, it meant that the final lap was now going to be run under it, ensuring Ramos would take the win in the first F3 action of the year.

The top of the grid will now be reverted back to the fastest time taking pole for the feature, with Rafael Camara starting from first.

READ MORE – Rafael Camara takes maiden F3 pole position for season opener in Australia

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The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy talent Rafael Camara set the fastest time in Formula 3 qualifying to clinch pole position at the Albert Park circuit in Melbourne.

Trident secured a front-row lockout with Noah Stromsted finishing in second and Theophile Nael in the Van Amersfoort Racing car qualified in third.

His team-mate Santiago Ramos finished 12th to secure pole position for the Sprint Race on Saturday.

The 2025 F3 season kicked off with Free Practice earlier as Camara set the fastest time ahead of the other 29 drivers.

This year signifies the beginning of a new era for the junior category, featuring a newly designed car to enhance driver development while prioritising affordability, safety, and sustainability.

In collaboration with Aramco, 2025 will also see the introduction of a 100% advanced sustainable fuel to be used throughout the championship.

Pirelli have brought larger 16-inch tyres for the upcoming season, aimed at helping the young stars learn to manage tyres in advance for Formula 2 and Formula 1.

This season, 13 drivers return after a full-length campaign in 2024, with MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz being the highest-ranked driver from last year after finishing ninth in the Drivers’ Standings.

With plenty of rookies on the grid, a 30-minute session ensued to set the grid for both the Sprint Race and the Feature Race.

Roman Bilinski in the Rodin Motorsport car set the early pace with a 1:36.125s before Stromsted went 0.227s quicker to top the timing sheets early on.

Nikita Bedrin, who only found out he would be competing in the first round a week before the season opener, went fastest with a 1:35.873 for the AIX Racing team.

Campos’ Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Prema racing driver Ugo Ugochukwu went third and fourth, respectively, in the opening stages of qualifying.

Frenchman Nael went quickest with a lap time of 1:35.566s.

With just over 10 minutes to go, none of the three MP Motorsport drivers had set a representative lap time, which included Tramnitz.

The German racing driver set a 1:35.825s to take himself into the top five before Camara went over half a second quicker than Nael to take provisional pole with a 1:34.999s.

Stromsted matched the Brazillian with a fastest sector one but could only place his car in second, 0.129s off pole.

Charlie Wurz for Trident set a lap time good enough for sixth place with a lap time of 1:35.839s.

Prema’s Brando Badoer, coming out on Turn 1, lost the rear of the car on the astro turf, sending him spinning into the barrier and bringing out the red flag with just over five minutes to go.

With the session brought to a halt, there were notable absences from the top 10 included Laurens Van Hoepen in the ART Grand Prix car down in 17th and Campos’ Mari Boya all the way down in 24th.

As the session resumed, Nael suffered a huge blow as his team informed him that the cooler had been left on the car as he tried to limp back towards the pits.

Christian Ho brought out another red flag as he came to a stop in the DAMS Lucas Oil car with just over 2 minutes left in the session.

However, the stewards announced that qualifying would not be resumed as Camara followed up on his earlier pace in practice to take pole position for the Feature Race.

Stromsted finished second ahead of Nael in third after his late incident in the session did not prove costly.

Bedrin secured fourth, Tramnitz in fifth in front of Wurz in sixth place.

Inthraphuvasak ended in seventh place ahead of Ugochukwu in eighth.

Martinius Stenshorne qualified in ninth for Hitech, and Bilinski rounded off the top ten with Ramos securing reverse-grid pole for the Sprint Race.

READ MORE: F1 releases behind the scenes documentary on 2025 rookies

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The FIA has revealed the identity of the 10 teams that will participate in the Formula 3 championship over the next three years as the feeder looks set to deliver more blockbuster racing.

F3 will once again have a 30-car grid from 2025 to 2027, with each team fielding three cars at all rounds, providing opportunities for younger drivers to impress.

9 of the 10 teams remain in the category, including Trident, following their Drivers’ Championship win with Leonardo Fornaroli and Prema, who once again took the Teams’ Championship.

A new name will arrive in the series next year, with DAMS making its debut, giving the team representation in F3 and F2 as it replaces outgoing Jenzer Motorsport.

In a statement, FIA Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel highlighted the pedigree of the teams and wished Jenzer Motorsport well as it embarks on its new ventures next season.

“For the next three-year cycle, we have retained nine of our current teams. Their level of professionalism and expertise guarantee the best preparation for the young drivers who aspire to progress to the highest levels of motorsport.

“To complete the grid, we welcome DAMS to the list of selected teams. We know them very well from the FIA Formula 2 Championship. Their pedigree and level of performance make them the perfect addition to the F3 field,” he said.

“Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Andreas Jenzer and everyone at Jenzer Motorsport for their commitment to Formula 3 since the beginning of the category. They have left their mark in the Championship, and I completely respect their decision to focus now on new challenges.” he concluded.

A new car for a new era

The first round of the new F3 season begins in March 2025, supporting the Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix, with a new Dallara car making its much-anticipated debut after its shakedown at Varano last month.

A new engine built by Mecachrome will also debut, with teams hoping for better reliability after various issues plagued the series in the last few seasons.

The teams selected for the 2025-2027 FIA Formula 3 Championship seasons

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Announcements of new FIA Formula 3 drivers are coming thick and fast as two days of testing at the Jerez circuit in Spain now already underway.

Alongside recent confirmations of young talents such as Ugo Ugochukwu, Louis Sharp and Brando Badoer joining 2025’s F3 grid, there are also a number of other newcomers who are planting their feet firmly on next rung up on the motorsport ladder.

Noah Stromsted

Danish teenager Stromsted has been signed by Trident for what will be his fifth season in single-seater racing. A serial podium-finisher, Stromsted is currently competing in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, in which has taken four top-three finishes to leave him in sixth place in the Drivers’ standings, with just two rounds remaining.

Stromsted has also competed in one F3 weekend already, appearing for Campos Racing at Monza.

Upon his signing, Stromsted said: “I am very happy to join Trident for my debut season in the 2025 FIA Formula 3.

“Their success the past years speaks for itself, I will work very hard to be competitive since the beginning of the season and help the team as much as possible with the development of the new car.

“I would like to thank Trident for their trust and giving me this opportunity, and of course my sponsors, family, coach and management for making this happen.”

Gerrard Xie

Hitech Pulse-Eight have secured the signature of Chinese youngster Xie, who is a proven race-winner in his three years of car racing.

After a dominant debut year in Chinese F4, taking the title with 13 wins from 14, he also won the Formula Renault Super Challenge and finished second in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix.

His last two years have been spent with Hitech in the GB3 Championship, winning one race in each season.

Xie said he was “thrilled to be making the step up to FIA Formula 3, and to be doing so with Hitech.”

Tuukka Taponen

Finnish driver Taponen is joining ART and will be another graduate from FRECA, with four victories in the series already under his belt.

It is only his second year in single-seaters, the first seeing him finish runner-up in the Formula 4 UAE Championship.

The Ferrari Academy driver has also had a taste of F3, racing in the Spa weekend this August. An “excited” Taponen said: “They already showed interest in me in the summer, giving me the opportunity to participate in last season’s FIA F3 Spa competition. The team immediately impressed me both on and off the track and it felt like coming home.

“ART GP has a long and successful history and I want to be a part of it in the future. ART GP is a familiar team to us Finns. For example, Valtteri Bottas won the championship with ART GP team before moving up to the Formula 1 series.”

Rafael Camara

Camara is the most successful FRECA graduate, having already sewn-up the title with six wins and a further four podiums. The Brazilian will join Trident, alongside Stromsted.

Another Ferrari Academy driver, Camara finished second in the F4 UAE title in 2022 and third in both Italian F4 and ADAC F4 in the same year.

A confident Camara said: “I’m very happy to join Trident, it is such a great Team and it’s very nice to be part of it.

“I can’t wait to start working with everyone and see what we can achieve together. Of course the expectations are high, I think next year we will for sure be targeting to fight for the championship.

Drivers retained for 2025

Amongst the fresher faces are ones a little more familiar, who will be competing in Formula 3 again for another year.

Trident complete its line-up with Austrian Charlie Wurz, son of former Le Mans winner and F1 driver Alexander. The half-British youngster has been lured from Jenner Motorsport, where he spent his debut year.

Campos has retained Spaniard Mari Boya after a second season in F3, in which he took victory in the Barcelona Sprint, in-front of his and his team’s home fans, having made his F3 debut with MP Motorsport the year previously.

Boya will be joined by Thai racer Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, who joins from AIX Racing, his best result coming in Hungary, where he finished second in the Sprint Race.

ART have retained Laurens van Hoepen, the Dutchman impressing with one pole position and a hat-trick of podiums.

Another retention comes from Hitech, who have re-signed McLaren Development driver Martinius Stenshorne. The Norwegian took a debut victory in the Sprint in Melbourne – only his third F3 race.

Stenshorne and Tsolov among fastest in testing

Stenshorne has already set the pace in the first day of testing, setting the fastest time ahead of Boya in yesterday’s afternoon session.

GB3 runner-up John Bennett was third fastest driving a Van Amersfoort, with its sister car driven by Jesse Carrasquedo fourth.

Van Hoepen was fifth, with Joshua Dufek sixth for Hitech. Christian Ho was seventh for Jenzer, Inthraphuvasak eighth, Roman Billinski ninth for Rodin and Stromsted rounding-up the top 10.

Day two saw Nikola Tsolov fastest for Campos, with Boya second once again. Stenshorne continues his good form with third, ahead of Stromsted, Ugochukwu, Inthraphuvasak and Wurz.

Dufek was eighth, with Freddie Slater ninth for Rodin, and Ho in 10th.

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Motorsport Week spoke with Leonardo Fornaroli after his dramatic FIA Formula 3 World Championship win to discuss what the future holds for the Italian.

Picture it, Trident’s Fornaroli entered the final few corners of the F3 season in fourth place, tucked right behind Christian Mansell. Prema’s Gabriele Mini was running in second. Without the future knowledge that Mini would later be disqualified, the watching Tifosi knew only that the leading Italian driver was about to take the third-tier championship title.

That was until Fornaroli lunged to the inside of Mansell at the Parabolica corner, snatching third and with it the F3 title.

“I knew I had to overtake Chris [Mansell] in front of me to win the championship,” Fornaroli explained to Motorsport Monday. “Going to the last corner, a lot of things went through my mind. The image of me losing the championship, and I said, ‘okay, this cannot be possible, I cannot lose the championship like this, I have to invent something.’ I just prayed that they were not going to cover the inside in the last corner, then just before the breaking point they both went back. So I said, ‘this is my time, all or nothing.’ I launched it completely on the inside, luckily Chris saw me in the mirror, so it was very fair and correct to leave the space on the inside. I think there was maximum respect between each other, so I managed to take the podium and the title in the last corner. Winning the championship like this, it’s even more special, because taking it in the last corner is something you can’t describe.”

READ MORE: Leonardo Fornaroli snatches F3 title at final corner as Meguetounif takes Monza Feature win

Winning the F3 title at Monza a ‘special’ moment for Leonardo Fornaroli

It was a Hollywood moment for Fornaroli, and his crowning glory was made all the sweeter for the young Italian with it taking place at Monza. An Italian driver, winning the title for an Italian team, at the Temple of Speed…

“It’s my home track, it’s the track closest to my house,” he acknowledged. “It’s special for me, because I had my first podium in Formula 4 and first front-row start, and the support from the home crowd is amazing. Last year was amazing too, but this year was even more so, the race in front of them was super cool, and all my family was there to support me, so it was a special weekend for me. When I took pole position and when I finished race two, I saw all the people on the grandstands cheering for me, and yeah, it was amazing.”

Fornaroli’s jubilation was in stark contrast to the dejection of Prema’s Mini. Mini and Fornaroli fought for the title all season long, but the latter revealed their longstanding friendship meant the battle was built on respect.

“Outside the circuit, I have a very good relationship with Gabriele,” Fornaroli revealed. “We were teammates in karting back in 2016, then until two years ago, we were training together, sleeping together in the same room, and also now we are playing together on the computer, on the simulator, almost every evening. We are very good friends outside the track, but inside, of course, we are rivals, but every time I raced with him, we had always maximum respect. Of course, I’d race him because we were fighting for a world championship, so both of us did the maximum to finish in front of the other, but always taking in mind that we couldn’t do any bad moves to each other.”

Leonardo Fornaroli unfazed by lack of F3 race wins

Close friends fighting to the last breath on track isn’t the only thing that makes the 2024 F3 title battle unique. Remarkably, Fornaroli won the Championship without taking a single race victory. Instead, the Trident driver finished every race, finished outside the top 10 on just two occasions and took seven podiums. A consistent campaign was the winning formula for Fornaroli, who holds little regret over failing to reach the top step of a Formula 3 podium.

“Now that I won the championship, of course, I don’t care if I didn’t win any races,” he said. “The key goal of this season was to be always in the top five, top 10, trying to score as many points as possible in every race without doing any bad mistakes. Also watching [Gabriel] Bortoleto’s season of last year, he won the first two races, then he limited himself to stay always in the top five, top 10 and always scoring points. He won the championship with quite a lot of gap, so I said, ‘okay, I have to do like him.’ I think we managed to do it quite well. We finished only two Sprint races outside the points. Even if we didn’t take any wins, we managed to take the championship.”

READ MORE: F3 Champion Leonardo Fornaroli lands 2025 Invicta Racing F2 seat

Jumping into Formula 2

Just like Bortoleto, Fornaroli is jumping from an F3 title run to a FIA Formula 2 rookie campaign with Invicta Racing. Bortoleto is on course to win the title with the Invicta outfit and Fornaroli couldn’t be happier to be following the same path.

“For me, it’s amazing to be with them next year,” Fornaroli said. “Jumping from a top team in F3 to a top team in F2 is the best thing for me. Also, watching what Gabriel is doing, he spoke very well about the team. I also spent some time already with the team and I’m feeling absolutely amazing with them. When there is time to be funny, they’re funny, but when there is time to be serious, they’re very serious. It’s an amazing team and I can’t wait to work with them next year.”

Fornaroli will have to wait some time for his F2 racing debut and he had to watch on as his F3 rivals Mini, Mansell and Luke Browning all got the chance to compete at Baku in September. With Oliver Bearman stepping up in place of Kevin Magnussen at Haas for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Prema called upon Mini to deputise and he impressed, finishing third on debut. Mansell has replaced Roman Stanek for the remainder of the F2 season at Trident and he scored two top 10 results in Azerbaijan. Browning, meanwhile, has filled the vacancy left by fellow Williams Academy driver Zak O’Sullivan at ART Grand Prix and finished seventh in the Baku Feature Race.

Leonardo Fornaroli looks ahead to 2025

Fornaroli will join in on the F2 fun next year along with another talented F3 graduate in Red Bull Junior Arvid Lindblad, who has signed with Campos for 2025. The new F3 champion is among a talented crop of drivers graduating to the next level.

“I think [F2] will be like a second Formula 3 championship,” Fornaroli said. “But to race with them, it’s absolutely fun for me. I think it will be another good experience because they’re very good drivers. They gave me a hard time this year and I can’t wait to fight with them again next year. It was very interesting to see Gabriele, Christian and Luke race [in Baku] because all three had basically no experience and it was their first time in Baku. I have to say they surprised me because I think they did very well, especially in the races. I think it will be a hard challenge next year, but as I said, I can’t wait again to be back on track.

“I said congratulations to all three and Gabriele told me that the car is a bit more difficult to drive, tyre management is completely different and the approach to the race is also very different.”

With his rivals getting a head start in F2, Fornaroli is focused on his preparations.

“We have six days of testing before the race in Melbourne,” he explained. “It’s not so much, but I will give my best to get a good result and I will prepare for next season by training as much as I can. I’ll also spend some time with the engineers and with the whole team to try and prepare for next year as well as possible.”

Fornaroli has perhaps sealed one of the most memorable F3 titles in recent years and he, along with his rivals, is well poised to go on to greater success in 2025.

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Brando Badoer has joined McLaren’s Driver Development Programme, conjoined with signing for Prema Racing for next season’s Formula 3 championship.

The 18-year-old has impressed the Woking outfit after a year’s evaluation and has exercised its option to sign Badoer permanently, joining the likes of former alumni Lewis Hamilton, Lando Norris and Nyck de Vries.

Badoer also sees his relationship with Prema continue into F3 for next year after impressing in this season’s Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine with the Italian squad.

With two rounds of the FRECA series left, Badoer currently sits fifth in the standings after a string of impressive drives, including a run of six podiums in succession.

In a statement released by McLaren, Badoer said: “I am excited to join the McLaren Driver Development programme. It’s a fantastic opportunity to join a team with such a great racing heritage and a proven record for developing talent.

“Competing in the 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship with Prema Racing will help continue my progression and I’d like to thank the whole team at McLaren for their support. I can’t wait to learn from the team’s guidance and get racing in the team’s iconic colours.”

In Prema’s statement, Team Principal Rene Rosin said: “Brando is a very interesting prospect, and we are delighted to give him an opportunity for 2025.

“We have kept an eye on him because we noticed his potential from F4 to FRECA, and we saw him make an impressive step this season.

“Formula 3 will be challenging, as it usually is, but he has the right attitude to quickly gel with the team and series.”

Badoer is following in the footsteps of his father Luca, who raced sporadically in Formula 1 between 1993 and 2009, driving for teams including Minardi and Forti, as well as a long and successful spell as a test driver for Ferrari.

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2024 FIA Formula 3 World Champion Leonardo Fornaroli has secured his step up to the Formula 2 series for 2025 with Invicta Racing.

A last-lap, last-corner overtake at Monza last Sunday during the F3 feature race secured Fornaroli one of the most dramatic single-seater titles in recent memory.

The Italian’s title success was made all the more remarkable by the fact he won without taking a single race victory.

Instead, a campaign based on consistency, with seven podiums and 18 points-finishes across 20 races ensuring he not only clinched the F3 title but impressed Invicta enough to earn a call up to F2.

“I’m so happy to be able to celebrate winning the F3 championship with this news and I cannot wait to step up to F2 next season,” the outgoing Trident driver said.

“Invicta Racing has proven itself over many years to be one of the best teams in F2, including this season. I’m really excited to work with the team for the 2025 season.

“I want to take this opportunity to thank Trident for the past three years, they really are the best team in F3. To go from the best team in F3 to the best in F2 is a truly a dream come true.”

Fornaroli will get behind the wheel of Invicta’s F2 machine at the post-season test in Abu Dhabi, affording him to get acquainted with the squad currently leading the Teams’ Championship standings.

It marks the second year in succession that Invicta has snapped up the reigning F3 Champion to its squad, with 2023 title-winner Gabriel Bortoleto currently chasing the F2 Drivers’ Championship for the team.

“We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Leonardo to the team for 2025,” said Invicta Racing Team Principal, Andy Roche.

“Winning the F3 Championship is an incredible achievement for him, and I have no doubt that he’ll do a brilliant job in 2025.

“We’ve followed Leonardo’s single-seater career for a few years now and it’s clear that he’s an outstanding talent.

“Following in the footsteps of Gabriel this year, we’re thrilled to have the reigning F3 Champion join our team for the second year in succession.”

READ MORE: Leonardo Fornaroli snatches F3 title at final corner as Meguetounif takes Monza Feature win

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FIA Formula 3 has today unveiled its next generation of car that will be raced in the 2025, 26 and 27 seasons.

The car features a bespoke 6-cylinder 3.4-litre naturally aspirated Mecachrome engine, capable of 380 horsepower at 8000 rpm.

The car is also slated to be run on fuel by Aramco, developed to be compliant with the FIA’s 100 percent sustainable fuel standard for next year, with new 16 inch tyres that will be made with a natural rubber component certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.

It will also feature Virtual Safety Car, DRS, and Marelli Control Vehicle Unit, which is currently standard on all F2 cars.

The FIA says the car has been designed “to boost overtaking capabilities, which will produce exciting on-track action and the new cockpit has been designed to improve the ergonomics and driver installation to accommodate a wide range of racers.”

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem said:

“The unveiling of the FIA Formula 3 2025 car marks a pivotal moment in our commitment to developing the next generation of racing talent.

“This car is more than just a step forward in technology and sustainability; it represents a critical step in the FIA’s single-seater ladder.

“By aligning closely with FIA Formula 2 and Formula 1 aerodynamics, the new F3 car offers young drivers an essential platform to develop their skills, preparing them for the challenges that lie ahead in the higher categories.

“In addition to updated safety and performance, we are proud that this new generation of cars integrates cutting-edge technology initiatives aimed at helping to reduce racing carbon emissions, running on advanced fuel that meets the FIA’s 100% sustainable fuel standard, just like Formula 1 from 2026.

“This demonstrates our commitment to work towards lowering motorsport’s greenhouse gas emissions while driving innovation.

“Moreover, the enhanced cockpit design reflects our ongoing efforts to make motorsport more inclusive, ensuring that drivers of all physical profiles have the opportunity to compete at the highest level. This new FIA Formula 3 embodies the FIA’s vision of a sport that is progressive, inclusive, and sustainable.”

F1’s CEO Stefano Domenicali said:

“The F3 Championship continues to deliver exhilarating racing, close title fights and most importantly is a fundamental training ground for future members of the Formula 1 grid.

“It is important that the next generation of stars can continue to hone their skills in an F3 car designed to help all drivers progress through the motorsport pyramid.

“This new car also takes a significant step forward in our sustainability journey by running on fuel that meets the FIA’s 100% sustainability fuel standard, an innovation that will come to Formula 1 in 2026.

“I’m excited to see it on the track in 2025 and I want to pay tribute to the great collaboration between the FIA and our Team, led by Bruno Michel.”

F3’s CEO Bruno Michel said: “I am very pleased to unveil our new F3 car, which will race for the next three seasons. Just like the current F2 car, together with the FIA, we have designed a machine that is challenging, safe, and the perfect tool to prepare young drivers who aspire to race in F1 in the future.

“The 2025 F3 car has been designed to provide exciting racing, with a lot of overtaking opportunities. We have also worked to ensure this new car fits all types of drivers, taking into account the FIA’s requirements regarding the steering effort.

“With this in mind, we have enhanced our car’s driveability and comfort to further ensure the new generation car is more inclusive.

“I’m also very proud of reaching another important milestone in terms of sustainability: thanks to our partner Aramco, the F3 car will run on advanced fuel, meeting the FIA 100% sustainable fuel standard as early as 2025, and several parts of the F3 2025 will use recycled carbon.

“As always, controlling costs has remained a hot topic when designing the F3 2025, so we have made sure to keep them as low as possible.

“We have also ensured that this new car can be managed with 11 operational people, as per the Sporting Regulations.

“Once again, I would like to thank our partners Aramco, Pirelli, Dallara, and Mecachrome, whose expertise and knowhow make this new car the best tool to prepare the F3 drivers on their way to the pinnacle of motorsport.”

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FIA Formula 3 Championship contender Gabriele Mini has said that his Prema team have not set any ground rules as all three of the team’s drivers could become champion at Monza this weekend.

Five different drivers could become victor on Sunday, with Mini the highest-placed of the Prema drivers, lying in second with 128 points, just one short of leader Leonardo Fornaroli.

Mini’s team-mates, Britain’s Arvid Lindblad and Sweden’s Dino Beganovic are fourth and fifth respectively, but sit on the periphery of the battle, being 16 and 29 points shy of Fornaroli’s current haul. Hitch’s Luke Browning is also in the mix in third place, on 123 points.

Despite this leaving the Italian the most likely of the Prema drivers to walk away with the crown, Mini has told Motorsport Week that his team has no plans to deploy team orders.

“I think we’ll be racing between each other as we have always had during the year, during the season,” he said.

“We’re not going to for sure impede each other, but we’re not going to help each other either. So I think there is nothing set by the team in particular and nothing will change in our approach.”

Mini also talked of his pride in how his season has gone, and hinted that perhaps his performances have led to positive changes for 2025.

“Well, I think we’ve done a good step from last year, which was my main goal, so I’m proud of that,” he said.

“For sure, I’m not proud of every round because there were so many occasions or so many moments where something could have gone better that would have changed the whole weekend.

“We can say about Barcelona or about Hungary, these kind of things. I think how the championship will sort out probably will change also maybe something for next year. I mean, it could already be sorted out, I don’t really know that already. I don’t think we can really say much about that yet.”

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