In January 2024, AIX Racing announced that Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak would be joining the team, confirming his debut in Formula 3. The Thai driver previously competed in Formula 4 championships, scoring consistently well.
“I am extremely delighted to announce that I will be racing with PHM AIX Racing in FIA Formula 3. I would like to thank everyone who has made this possible and the team for giving me this amazing opportunity. I can’t wait to get started in Bahrain in a couple of weeks!”
PHM AIX Racing Sporting Director Rohland Rehfeld was extremely impressed by the driver and knew he would be a perfect fit for the team.
“We are very happy to have signed Tas at an early stage, showing his trust in our still young Team. He is fully dedicated to our driver program including the UAE winter season as well as our FIA Formula 3 team. Tas has collected victories in each class and championship he was competing in so far, so he knows how to deliver. He is extremely ambitious and focused and in the post-season testing he already showed a very promising performance and work ethic. We are sure he will be one of the positive surprises in 2024.”
Inthraphuvasak ‘s Beginning
Inthraphuvasak’s season began with him placing 16th and 19th in the Bahrain Grand Prix. While he didn’t score points, it was still a better result than his teammates’, Bedrin and Dufek at the time. This short-lived peak came to an end, as he faced retirements in the next few races at Melbourne and Imola. At Imola he faced a post-race 20-second time penalty dropped him from P27 to P28. He then raced a Monaco placing 17th and 18th in the Sprint and Feature Race respectively. He still placed higher than his teammates, turning out to be the more efficient driver out of the three during these races.
The Midseason build-up
At Barcelona, Spielberg and Silverstone he faced a performance block. He placed within the range of P20-P27 in the Feature and Sprint Races. At Silverstone however, he moved up to P20 as James Wharton of Hitech Pulse-Eight who dropped down to 21st due to a penalty.
The Triumph
At Budapest, Inthraphusuvak and his teammate Bedrin placed 10th and 11th in qualifying. This earned them front row seats to the Sprint Race as they stood behind P1 Dino Beganovic. However this all turned around when Bedrin and Inthrsphuvasak took over Beganovic. The duo brought home the team’s maiden win and 1-2 for the season. It was also the maiden podium for the Thai driver. He became the first Thai to finish on the podium on an F1 weekend since Alex Albon. He created history for both AIX and his legacy.
The Storm after the Triumph
Having proven his ability, the driver went on to place 14th in the feature race at Budapest. At Spa- Francorchamps, the driver received a grid penalty post-qualifying . He received a 10 second penalty in the Sprint Race due to exceeding track limits on five occasions. Despite this, he still placed 29th in the Sprint. He then went on to place 21st and 11th in the final two races at Monza. This allowed him to place an overall 24th in his debut season.
An all new journey
Inthraphuvasak will drive alongside Nikola Tsolov and Mari Boya at Campos Racing. He didn’t have much of a stellar season as compared to the other drivers on the grid. However his work ethic and consistent efforts is what makes him a good fit for a team like Campos Racing.
“It was a tough season last year but I think we definitely learned a lot throughout the season,” said Inthraphuvasak. “I think the improvements throughout the season were really good and as a team I think that it was a really positive and good finish to the season.
“I can build the momentum into the next one, obviously switching to Campos now. I’ve worked with the team in the past in Eurocup-3, so I know how the team and the people in the team work pretty well. So, I think that will help quite a lot with kind of gelling into the team, especially when there is a new car this year and we have to work pretty hard to maximise all the options possible. Also, I have the same engineer from the year I was in with Campos. I think the teamwork would be for sure there, and I’m really looking forward to it.”
While it will be a tough sophomore season for the driver, it is without a doubt that he will continue to work hard and might just be able to create history once again.
