Five pole positions, four Feature Race wins and wrapping up the title with two races to spare. It has been quite the 2025 campaign for Rafael Camara as he became the latest FIA Formula 3 Champion, and arguably one of the most dominant.
His rookie season in the Championship has brought plenty of head-turning moments, perhaps none more impressive than his title-clinching performance in Budapest this past weekend.
Presented with the first opportunity to wrap up the F3 title, the TRIDENT driver obliged, nailing a last-gasp qualifying lap for his record-extending fifth pole, and he would not be stopped from there.
It all added up to a season that Ferrari’s Deputy Team Principal, and Head of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy, Jerome d’Ambrosio says could not have gone much smoother.
“Honestly, I don’t think we could have hoped for better,” he said on Sunday in Budapest of his driver’s title success. “This season started strong, he managed really well in the moments where things were more tense, and I think that the race that we saw today sums it up: fighting for a championship in the wet on a track that’s very slippery.
“It could have been easy for him to make a mistake. You could see that he was driving on the limit. He was fast, but he was under control. He chose when to push, chose when to open the gap, and that shows that he was in control.”
Continued success
Camara has been a member of Ferrari’s Driver Academy going back to 2022, and since signing has never finished a single-seater campaign outside of the top five.
In fact, just once has the Brazilian missed out on a top-three finish in a season, and his F3 title win was his second in succession following the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine crown in 2024.
D’Ambrosio says that, since joining the team, Camara has developed impressively year after year, and his most recent title successes are evidence of the progress he has made as a driver on and off the track, as he continues to impress the F1 team.
“When you’ve got a talent like Rafa, this might sound harsh, but it is what you’re expecting and is what you want to see. Our job is to support him in the best possible way so that he can deliver that and can express his talents to the maximum of its capacity.
“He’s been with us for several years, and I think he’s made a really big step. I actually first got to know Rafa when I was with another academy and he was competing against us.
“He was definitely one that we were wary of, because he was there always fighting for championships. I think he made a clear step in ‘24 winning the FRECA Championship, and then this year by winning in his rookie season in the Formula 3 Championship.
“What has been impressive in that period of time that I’ve got to know him is the way he’s evolved, not only as a driver, but also outside of the track – he has tremendous maturity. I think the last 12 months have been incredible for him. He’s performed outstandingly.”
Impressing Ferrari
Camara’s season hasn’t just been successful in terms of accolades, as the Ferrari Academy continue to support the 20-year-old in the best way possible.
While that sometimes means guidance and advice, it can also mean supporting the driver’s own decision-making process, and D’Ambrosio says that has been a key part of Camara’s growth and an aspect that has impressed him in particular.
“He has a unique way of knowing what he wants and what he needs to perform, which I think is extremely important for a driver,” he says. “It’s impressive. When you’re investing into young talents and you’re trying to support them in the best possible way.
“We had some discussions over the winter, which were quite interesting where, I think as an academy, we were suggesting some things, and he said, ‘No, Jerome, this is what I need. This is what I want.’
“And I remember saying, ‘Okay, then that’s what you’re going to get, and that’s how we’re going to support you.’ He knows what he wants or what he needs to perform, and that’s a sign of maturity. That’s a sign of strength.”
While self-assuredness is a positive, it is the way in which Camara has gone on to deliver after those pre-season talks, which make him stand out as a driver with great potential for the future.
The Ferrari Deputy Team Principal says it is all building towards the bigger picture – the goal of a future in Formula 1 one day.
“At the same time as trying to identify if they’ve got what it takes to make that step, and for Ferrari that is to one day drive a Ferrari Formula 1 car, having someone that is assertive in their choices and in knowing what he needs is, I would say, encouraging and reassuring that you’ve got someone that knows what he wants to perform in this sport,” D’Ambrosio explains.
“I think in any area, you have to know what you want, and you have to go for it. You have to believe in yourself, and you need to be objective by yourself also. And so Rafa has got these qualities, but again, the road is still long.”
What comes next?
Though there is some distance to go for the young Brazilian at this stage of his career, the signs are already very promising.
With one round remaining in the Formula 3 campaign, the focus is on ending the current season on the best possible note, but there is already an eye on what his immediate future holds.
So, while the Ferrari Academy driver will be getting a well-deserved break according to D’Ambrosio, the hard work for 2026 is already being mapped out.
“He definitely deserves a break now before Monza, going back to Brazil, have a good time with his family, and then the challenge and the work for next season will begin,” he says. “First of all, he has to close this season but then go on to prepare for the future.
“For him, Formula 2 will be the next step. It’s a challenging one, and so we’ll have to prepare that as best we can.”
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