F3 | FP | Bahrain GP | In-form Câmara tops uneventful Practice session - Motorsport

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After a wet and disrupted opener in Melbourne, F3 took to the track for the opening practice session of the 2025 Sakhir F3 Round at the Bahrain GP. This weekend will mark Freddie Slater’s debut in the FIA Formula 3 championship. The British driver, who most recently finished runner-up in the 2025 Formula Regional Middle East Championship, was called up to AIX Racing’s F3 line-up for the Sakhir Round. He will replace Nikita Bedrin, who left the team and subsequently, the F3 championship, to focus on his Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) campaign. However, whether Slater will remain with AIX in F3 past the Bahrain GP weekend has yet to be decided.

Like his F3 colleagues, Slater recently completed three days of in-season testing around the Sakhir International Circuit. With the drivers having to adapt to the new engine package and the 2025 Dallara chassis, these three days on track served as an opportunity to continue to familiarise themselves with the car while gaining experience around the Sahkir circuit. With their running in Melbourne limited due to the poor weather conditions, the in-season testing helped the teams and drivers collect vital information on their race runs. Whether they are able to efficiently use this data over the upcoming sessions, however, remains to be seen.

Voisin leads the drivers out on track under Virtual Safety Car conditions

As the light went green at the Sahkir International Circuit, Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin led the drivers out of the pit lane as the drivers put in some installation laps under Virtual Safety Car conditions. With it being a Free Practice session, these conditions were brought on, not by any on-track accident or obstruction, but rather as a result of a planned test.

With the test ending five minutes into the session, the drivers returned to the pit lane, as teams worked on setting up the cars for their respective run plans. There was one driver out on track, however. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues used the clear track to put in an early benchmark of 2:07.843. He improved to 1:52.776 on his next lap, despite running wide into the last turn after locking up. With over 25 minutes left, he returned to the pit lane, letting the track fall silent once more.

Teams focusing on qualifying simulations in last 15 minutes of Practice

As teams focused on race runs in the recent in-season testing, the teams have sufficient data to use to prepare for Saturday’s Sprint Race and Sunday’s Feature Race. Qualifying simulations were the focus of the Bahrain GP weekend’s only F3 Free Practice session.

With just about 15 minutes left before the end of the session, Domingues led his colleagues back on track. He was followed by the Campos Racing trio of Mari Boya, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, and Nikola Tsolov. F3 debutant Freddie Slater followed in the green AIX car. As track temperatures neared 50 degrees Celsius, the rest of the drivers took to the track, with the majority on fresh hard tyres. Trident, however, remained in the pit lane, coming out in the last ten minutes of the session.

With less than eight minutes left in the F3 Practice at the Bahrain GP, Campos Racing claimed a 1-2-3, with Tsolov setting a 1:51.111. Boya, with a 1:51.520 just missed out on P1, though he finished ahead of Intraphuvasak with a 1:51.769. Intraphuvasak soon dropped to P4 as Slater put in a 1:51.693, with Roman Bilinski then claiming P2 with a 1:51.423.

Câmara goes top with five minutes left

With just five minutes left, Tsolov remained top of the timesheets, ahead of Bilinski and Boya. ART Grand Prix’s Tuukka Taponen, however, went P4, ahead of MP Motorsport’s Bruno del Pino in P5 and Hitech TGR’s Joshua Dufek in P6. Del Pino’s MP Motorsport teammate, Tim Tramnitz, then went third with a 1:51.427. However, he dropped to P4, as Trident’s Rafael Câmara, the Melbourne Feature Race winner, claimed P1 with an impressive 1:50.984.

As the clock ticked down on the F3 Sakhir Round Free Practice session, track limits proved a challenge with many running into the gravel traps around the circuit. Traffic, too, could be a challenge, with some drivers forced to slow down due to the cars ahead of them.

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With the chequered flag out, Câmara remained top of the timesheet, maintaining the excellent form that he has shown since the start of the 2025 season. Tsolov, who set the early benchmark in the latter half of the session, finished P2, just over 0.1 seconds off Câmara, while Taponen rounded out the top three with a 1:51.202. Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos improved to fourth, finishing ahead of MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti in fifth.