Théophile Naël became the second Van Amersfoort Racing driver to claim points at the 2025 Melbourne F3 round, after a P3 finish in Sunday’s Feature Race. The French driver survived difficult on-track conditions during the shortened, disrupted race, to add 15 points to his tally. This brought Naël’s tally up to 19 for the weekend, with him having finished Saturday’s Sprint Race seventh. Naël leaves Melbourne second in the 2025 F3 Drivers’ Championship standings, only nine points behind Feature Race winner, Rafael Câmara of Trident.
Naël pleased with strong start to the 2025 F3 season
While speaking to the media, including Pit Debrief, during the FIA Formula 3 Post-Feature Press Conference, Naël stated that he was pleased with the good results from the Feature Race despite the tricky conditions. However, he admitted that his performance over the weekend had been unexpected, especially after less-than-ideal pre-season testing in Barcelona.
“Pretty happy. Plenty of points this weekend so far.”
“I was not expecting a first weekend like that, especially with the testing in Barcelona [where] we were not really happy. But we worked really hard coming here so, pretty happy.”
Naël acknowledges “tricky” conditions in 2025 F3 Melbourne Feature Race
He highlighted the difficult conditions that he experienced with both the grip and visibility, especially during the wettest portions of the race at the beginning and end. The race was red-flagged two laps early due to the poor conditions which were deemed too dangerous for the drivers remaining on track.
“The conditions [were] really tricky, I was trying to find the grip find the line yeah it was a tough race.”
“I think [visibility, for me] was even worse.”
“It was really tricky, especially at the beginning of the race and then when the rain started again at the end, [I was hoping it] was a red flag because it was really tricky conditions with aquaplaning as well on the track so yeah.”
Naël later emphasised his struggles with visibility during the 2025 Melbourne F3 Round Feature Race, explaining that while it had been similar to what he would have expected had he been in the car used in the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA), the conditions in Melbourne had made things especially bad.
“Well, I think it’s pretty similar [to the] FRECA car or whatever, but yeah, visibility was bad today. I think especially on the city track like Melbourne.”
Naël pleased with set-up of car during 2025 Melbourne F3 Feature Race
While Naël experienced some challenges during the 2025 Melbourne Round, including in his very successful Feature Race, he did not have any issues with the set-up of the car, which he described as “good”. More than that, he claimed not to have struggled too much with the tyres, though he admitted that his lack of experience with the old car, prevented him from being able to make a proper comparison.
“I didn’t try the old car with the wet tyres so I had no experience with this. Obviously, we tried in Barcelona with this car. We worked hard with the tyres. So I think the set-up for the car was good.”
Van Amersfoort Racing “should keep working like this” to maximise performance with 2025 F3 car — Naël
Though he believes that the use of the new 2025 car will increase the competitiveness within F3 for the 2025 season, Naël emphasised that the team would need to keep working hard, especially during the upcoming testing in Bahrain.
“I think now we have [the] Bahrain testing so we should try many things again on the car. I think [that there are] experienced drivers who really came back, so we should keep working like this and let’s see.”
While Naël notes that Van Amersfoort Racing will have to maximise their efforts in testing in Bahrain, he believes that they collected “some very important data” from the Melbourne F3 Round which they could use to shape their approach to the rest of the 2025 season.
“Well, I think it was a very important weekend for us. We learned a lot between both conditions. We collected some very important data for the future of the season so yeah let’s try to maximise that in Bahrain.”
Though pleased with his performance over the 2025 Melbourne Round weekend, and especially in the Feature Race, Naël believes that there is “more to find in the car.” However, he noted that as the season was just starting, giving the team time to explore and continue to develop.
“I think there is more to find in the car but we are just starting the season now so I think we have a clear idea where to work for the future for Bahrain testing but yeah it’s a very good run.”
Naël planned to “stay on track” and adapt to tricky conditions during F3 Melbourne Feature Race
In response to a question from Pit Debrief, Naël stated that while the team had accomplished their goal of staying on track, given their expectation of a “chaotic” race, he had needed to adapt as the race progressed. With him finishing P3, it is clear that the Frenchman was able to adapt successfully despite the tricky conditions, though he had needed to back off slightly at restarts to improve his visibility.
“Yeah, {I had to back off] quite a bit but obviously, the plan was to stay on track. We knew that it was going to be chaotic, so the plan was to stay on track and adapt to it.”
Van Amersfoort aiming for more podiums after successful 2025 Melbourne F3 round – Naël
With Santiago Ramos claiming his maiden win the Saturday’s Sprint Race, the 2025 Melbourne F3 round was ultimately a successful one for Van Amersfoort Racing which currently sits second in the Drivers’ Championship with 29 points. With his teammate having enjoyed such success in the Sprint Race, Naël believes that his podium finish in the Feature Race was “something very important for the team”.
“Well I think it’s something very important for the team this podium and this weekend obviously with Santiago winning yesterday on the sprint race so yeah I think it’s something important.”
The Frenchman believes that the Dutch team deserved their good results and believes that they can aim for more podiums as they have a strong line-up for 2025
“They work really hard they deserve it so far. I think we have a really good driver in the team this season so yeah we can work really hard together and let’s hope for more podiums.”
