Théophile Naël has an excellent start to his 2025 FIA Formula 3 career, finishing third in the F3 Melbourne Round Qualifying session, despite an odd moment with a blower. Though this incident threatened his final classification, the Stewards ultimately allowed the driver to keep his position. Instead, they fined Van Amersfoort Racing €500 for breaching Article 28.12 (b) of the FIA Formula 3 Sporting Regulations by releasing Naël in an unsafe manner.
During the FIA Formula 3 Post-Qualifying Press Conference, attended by Pit Debrief, Naël was asked about the incident. However, he could not provide any answers, explaining that he had not yet reviewed it with his team.
“Well, to be honest, I don’t know [what happened] yet. I didn’t watch the images with the team. So yeah, I didn’t have time to discuss with them.”
Naël “extremely happy” with performance during Qualifying
Apart from this incident, however, Naël enjoyed a good F3 Qualifying session in Melbourne, and while he stated that he had not been able to do a “clean” lap, he was proud of the eventual outcome of the session.
“Extremely happy,” Naël replied when asked about his Friday at the Australian GP.
“The team did a really good job. Though practice, the pace was good. I didn’t manage to do a clean lap, but anyway, we stayed focused for the Quali and it worked very well.”
Despite his good result, however, the Van Amersfoort Racing rookie believes that he and his team still have a lot to understand about their car. He highlighted their lack of experience with the medium compound tyres, echoing concerns mentioned by Noah Strømsted.
“Well, I think there is still a lot to understand with this car, especially race pace. Like Noah said, we didn’t have time to test with medium tyres, so it will be a full discovery tomorrow.”
While also noting the challenges for the forecast rainy conditions, Naël stated that he expected the Sprint Race to help the team understand the tyres a bit more, as they continue their preparation for Sunday’s F3 Feature Race in Melbourne.
“Obviously, it should be raining on Sunday race, so let’s see. We are still working, we are still learning as well as the car, so tomorrow is going to be a tougher day.”
An unexpected top three qualifying finish for Naël
Though pleased with his results, Naël admitted that he had not expected such a strong qualifying session. He noted his inexperience in the series and his focus on discovering different aspects of racing around the Albert Park Circuit at a higher level. However, though “pretty happy” with his pace in Melbourne, Naël stated that he still had a very long way to go in the 2025 F3 Championship.
“Well, for us, it was not expected that much. To be honest, it’s my first race in Formula 3, so it was a total discovery for me, a change from practice grip to qualifying grip, so pretty happy with the pace and the way is still very long, so that’s it.”
Naël not affected by stoppages during Qualifying
When asked about the multiple stoppages, especially in the last minutes of the Melbourne F3 Qualifying session, Naël stated that he had not expected to have responded to them as he had, and indicated that he would need to try “a lot of things” and do his best during the Saturday Sprint and Sunday Feature Races.
As I said, I was not expecting [the outcome]. Let’s see how it goes during the weekend. Still, we have a lot of things to try as well. For me, as a driver, yes, I will do my best.”
When asked if the disruption had affected his concentration, the French driver replied, “No, it was okay, to be honest.”
He explained that the team had managed the traffic situation well. This had allowed him clear space while setting his flying lap, ultimately helping him to his third-pace finish.
“No, it was okay, to be honest. We managed well the traffic of the team, so we had a clear space in front of us, so it was pretty good.”
Naël expecting a “tricky” weekend
Despite his good qualifying performance, Naël is aware that the Sprint and Feature Races may be challenging. In response to a question from Pit Debrief, Naël gave his thoughts on the evolution of the track throughout Friday.
“We were expecting more compared to qualifying. The balance of the car didn’t change as much for us, so it was pretty good. We were expecting that, so the team did a really good job for this.”
With hotter track temperatures on Saturday, Naël believes that the higher temperatures could play a role in his performance, especially give the limited understanding of the medium tyres. These conditions, Naël said, could make things “tricky” for the F3 Melbourne Sprint Race
“And for tomorrow, let’s see. It’s going to be super hot, I heard, so let’s see with the day, as well with medium tyres, I think it’s going to be tricky.”
As for Sunday, Naël added, “And Sunday, it’s going to rain maybe, so it’s a surprise.”
