The Spanish driver claimed his first victory of the season with a flawless performance in the wet, while Inthraphuvasak scored his maiden FIA F3 win on Saturday. Tsolov, who had secured pole position on Friday, was unlucky with the weather. Campos Racing leaves Great Britain as the new teams’ championship leader
The annual FIA Formula 3 visit to Silverstone, round seven of the season, was dominated from start to finish by Campos Racing. Mari Boya triumphed in extremely challenging weather conditions on Sunday, capping off a fantastic weekend in which he had already taken a third-place finish the day before, firmly establishing himself as a title contender. In Saturday’s opening race, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak emerged as a new race winner in the category, driving one of Campos Racing's cars. Nikola Tsolov had been untouchable on Friday, topping both free practice and qualifying, but neither the weather nor luck played in favor of the "Bulgarian Lion" in Britain.
As mentioned, Tsolov set the pace on Friday morning, posting a stunning lap of 1m45.847s, leaving his closest rival three tenths behind. In fact, he was the only driver to break the 1m46s barrier. Inthraphuvasak set a personal best of 1m46.379s, while Boya clocked a lap of 1m46.755s.
Later in qualifying, Tsolov maintained his form. He laid down an early benchmark of 1m45.655s, putting pressure on his rivals. As track conditions improved toward the end of the session, lap times dropped. But no one could topple Tsolov from the top of the timesheets. Despite the efforts of Ugo Ugochukwu and Rafael Câmara, a blistering purple second sector helped Tsolov secure pole position with a 1m45.351s lap. Boya also delivered an excellent performance, climbing to fourth place with a 1m45.351s. Inthraphuvasak rounded out the team’s strong showing, qualifying 12th with a 1m45.584s lap that earned him pole position for Saturday's reverse grid race.
The first race, scheduled for 18 laps, got underway shortly after 10 a.m. When the lights went out, Inthraphuvasak held onto the lead ahead of Théophile Naël and Christian Ho. Boya, starting ninth, gained two places on the opening lap to move into seventh. Tsolov’s bad luck struck early, as Brando Badoer tagged him from behind, spinning him down to the back of the pack. A Virtual Safety Car was first deployed, followed by a full Safety Car, before racing resumed on lap five. Naël briefly overtook Inthraphuvasak but was forced to give the lead back after exceeding track limits. Meanwhile, Boya gained another position on lap eight by overtaking Noel León. Inthraphuvasak wisely conserved his tires in the early stages, while Naël, who pushed harder, began to fade from the halfway point. Boya continued his charge and by lap 15 he was up to fifth after passing Christian Ho at Turn 5. Inthraphuvasak looked set for victory, while Boya’s podium chances kept improving. On lap 17, as Laurens van Hoepen attempted to pass Naël, Boya seized the opportunity and overtook both to move into third place. Inthraphuvasak crossed the line to claim his maiden win, with Boya finishing third. Tsolov, after his early incident, finished 29th.
Sunday's race got more complicated when, just ten minutes before the scheduled start of the 22-lap race, a downpour soaked the track. The key decision was whether to fit wet or slick tires. Tsolov, along with Câmara and Martinius Stenshorne, opted for slicks. Boya and Inthraphuvasak chose wets. The gamble paid off for the latter. When the lights went out, Tsolov and the other slick runners were swallowed up by the pack, with Boya taking the lead ahead of Naël, León, and Inthraphuvasak. Boya steadily pulled away with a strong pace, while Tsolov waited for the track to dry. His hopes were dashed on lap 11 when he had to pit for wet tires just as another heavy shower arrived. Several drivers, even those on wets, went off track, prompting a Safety Car on lap 11. Just two laps later, the race was red-flagged. After several minutes of uncertainty, it was confirmed that the race would not resume, giving Boya the win. Inthraphuvasak initially finished tenth but was later handed a ten-second penalty for an infringement during the formation lap, dropping him to 13th. Tsolov recovered to 20th amidst the chaos.
With three race weekends, or six races, remaining in the championship, Tsolov and Boya sit third and fourth in the drivers’ standings. The Bulgarian Red Bull Junior Team driver has 91 points, while the Spanish Aston Martin Academy driver has 85. Inthraphuvasak is 14th with 33 points. As mentioned, Campos Racing now leads the teams’ standings with 209 points.
The next round will take place at another legendary circuit, Spa-Francorchamps, on July 26-27.
Nikola Tsolov (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): “Amazing pace once again being P1 in Quali but unfortunately luck wasn't on our side this weekend. Got hit in Sprint Race and wrong gamble with the strategy on Feature race by putting the slick tyres on a wet track which we thought would dry. Difficult to swallow but not much in our control that we could've changed as it was about luck. A break to refresh now and another double header in some fantastic tracks in a few weeks’ time”
Mari Boya (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): "A perfect weekend for us. We've shown incredible speed since qualifying. On Saturday, we had a fantastic race in dry conditions, starting from ninth and finishing on the podium. Our race pace was outstanding and I was feeling very confident for Sunday’s race. But the conditions changed on Sunday, and even so, we maximized our chances. We made the right call with the tires and later we also had great speed in the wet. I'm really happy with how things are going and we'll keep working hard for the remaining rounds."
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Campos Racing Driver in FIA Formula 3): “Extremely happy to get my first win in the championship. Happy to finally give the team a result they deserve. A shame we didn’t make the right call for strategy in the feature race with mixed conditions but already can’t wait for the next round”
