Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Biliński wrote his name into the history books on Saturday at the 2025 Australian Grand Prix. After starting third under the reverse-grid conditions, Biliński held on to his position throughout the wet and disrupted Sprint Race to claim his first F3 podium in Melbourne. Not only was this significant for the rookie driver who made his F3 debut in Australia, but it was also a historical moment for Polish motorsport, with Biliński becoming the first Polish driver to stand on an F3 podium since the series’ inception in 2019.
A “good start” to Bilinski’s F3 career
While speaking to the media, including Pit Debrief, during the FIA Formula 3 Post-Sprint Press Conference, Biliński described his debut race as a “good start” to his F3 career, though he noted that he had made some mistakes around the Melbourne circuit.
“It’s a good start. For sure it could have been better, I made a couple of mistakes. But for a first race in Formula 3 to be on the podium I think is all that myself and the team could ask for. So we’ll try and keep building on this and we’ll see what happens.“
Though pleased with his performance, Biliński lamented the deployment of the second Safety Car which prevented any racing in the final laps of the win. Having managed to hold on throughout the race, the Polish driver believes he could have challenged for the win. However, he understands that such situations are unavoidable, especially in conditions as tricky as those faced around the Albert Park Circuit.
“For sure I wanted to go for the win. I was kind of managing it a little bit, just staying in the DRS, waiting for those last few laps. So a bit of a shame the safety car came out, but of course, you can’t forget these things, these things happen and it’s what it is.”
Biliński’s Sprint Race strategy neutralised by Safety Car
The Polish driver, when asked about his strategy for the last few laps of the Sprint Race, admitted that while his aim had been to manage his tyres before making a late move, this had been rendered useless after the deployment of the Safety Car which had neutralised the race, effectively ending his chance to compete for a higher position.
“Ideally, I’d want to get the other two, but I was trying to manage on the laps before the safety car, just try and stay in the DRS train, not use the tyres too much and hopefully at the end go for the move. But unfortunately with the safety car, that made it difficult.”
“Either way, they’re both two great drivers, so getting past them isn’t going to be easy. So, yeah, that was the idea anyway.”
Biliński’s confidence high after “strong debut”
Biliński’s strong start to his 2025 F3 season is particularly welcome after his difficult 2024. The Polish driver suffered a serious injury in a road accident ahead of the Zandvoort Round of the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) and required surgery to repair two broken vertebrae. This rules him out of the subsequent rounds at the Hungaroring, Mugello Circuit and Circuit Paul Ricard. Despite missing almost four rounds of the series, Biliński finished the season 15th with 52 points.
“The confidence is definitely high right now, after getting the podium,” Biliński replied when asked about his feelings about his podium finish in the F3 Melbourne Sprint.
“It was a difficult last year, having the accident and everything like this, but to bounce back and now be here I think is a strong debut.”
Biliński and Rodin Motorsport “looking at the data” as they prepare for Feature Race
After his success in the 2025 Melbourne Round Sprint Race, Biliński planned to take some of the lessons learned into Sunday’s Feature Race. In response to a question from Pit Debrief, the Polish driver explained that he needed to prioritise his tyre management, as he had not had to do so at such an extreme level before. He added that he would also review the data collected from the Sprint Race to see what could be improved for the Feature Race. However, Biliński added that he was relieved that most drivers were in a similar situation due to their unfamiliarity with the new 2025 car.
“The tyres is a big thing. Managing this is really something I’ve had to do so much of before. So like [Santiago Ramos and Martinius Stenshorne] said, it’s learning this, but I guess it’s also a bit new for everyone, which I guess is quite handy for me.”
“So yeah, like [Ramos and Stenshorne] said, it’s going to be looking at the data, seeing what we can do better.”
Biliński feeling “pretty good” in new car after productive pre-season with Rodin
Despite a lack of familiarity with the car, when asked how comfortable he felt driving it, Biliński replied, “I feel pretty good, to be honest.”
While Biliński had hoped to win Saturday’s F3 Melbourne Sprint Race, he believes that settling for third, especially given the circumstances, was a suitable enough outcome.
“I mean, I’d hope I’d be winning, to be honest. But no, for sure, it’s a very good start.”
He explained that he had had very good, productive pre-season tests with Rodin Motorsport, and while he acknowledged that there would be some tracks that were more difficult than others, he planned to “just get on with it”.
“We had three very good days of testing in Barcelona with Rodin. And I think we all did a good job, the preparation before was good. So, I think we can be proud of ourselves for this.”
“And you know, it’s going to be a bit difficult going to a couple of tracks, I don’t know, but it’s part of racing. You just have to get on with it, learn and do it. Well, thanks very much and well done today.”
Some differences with tyres and speed between 2025 car and predecessor
He continued to describe the new car, as he felt in it, noting differences with the tyres and the car’s speed on the straights and in the corners. However, he reiterated that the pre-season tests in Barcelona had helped him improve his familiarity with the car.”
“I think we had a very strong test in Barcelona, also for my teammates, for the whole team in general. So I think this is good.”
“And then comparing to the car before, which of course I drove for post-season tests, the tyre makes a big difference as well. A bit slow on the straights as well, but the cornering speeds look to be a bit up. So, yeah, these are differences from my side.”
Dirty air not a major issue for Biliński
Biliński also spoke about the performance of the car around the Albert Park Circuit under race conditions. He explained that “dirty air” had not added too much of a challenge, as his approach to such issues was to “just get on with it.”
“To be fair, [the dirty air] wasn’t too bad. I didn’t find it to be a massive issue. Of course, it’s not great. But to be honest, you just get on with it. If you need a bit more rotation, just smash the kerb a little bit and you’re all right.”
