Inthraphuvasak happy with comeback drive to points and Campos pace in Barcelona

Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak put in a great Sprint Race performance to bounce back from a difficult Qualifying to secure points on Saturday morning for Campos Racing.

The Thai driver was handed a three-place grid penalty that left him 19th on the grid having looked strong in terms of raw speed.

However, he rebounded with a superb drive to ninth position, a result he said afterwards was a great feeling after a difficult opening to 2025.

“Finally, back in the points after Round 1. Honestly, it’s been a really tough start to the season for me. The pace has always been super strong, but we’ve never really managed to put it together in these last few rounds.

“Here in Qualifying, we had a really bad session. P2 after the first push and very strong but then a mistake on both sets at the end on my side so we didn’t improve. Then we ended up in P15 but after the penalties, P19, so it was a super tough start to the weekend.

“But we knew heading into the race that our pace was going to be super strong. So I was trying to make up as many positions as I could. I managed to keep the nose clean in the beginning and in the first lap.

“As everyone saw, it was one of the most chaotic race starts of the year. So I managed to keep myself out of trouble and the race pace was super strong by the end. I managed to overtake a few guys and ended up in the points, so I’m happy with the race today.”

Inthraphuvasak’s race involved plenty of overtaking, but his favourite of the day came with an opportunistic dive to the inside of Turn 5 in a battle with MP Motorsport’s Bruno del Pino.

Having seen teammate Mari Boya make a similar pass earlier in the race, the Thai driver made his own attempt, a self-admitted risky passing move that paid off with points in the end.

“I’d definitely pick the last one in Turn 5. I think on TV it looked a bit risky, but I think it was a good move. I kept it clean so that one was definitely my favourite from the race.”

He added that as the race progressed, he felt stronger and stronger as he proved his pace was stellar and that the Campos car was working well on home soil.

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As the race wore on, Inthraphuvasak says that the car continued to get better as others faded in the final laps, something that bodes well for the Feature Race on Sunday morning.

“I think the race came to us. We had that long period of Safety Car in the beginning. I decided to push very hard after that restart and it kind of hindered my performance a bit.

“I struggled a bit in the middle of the race, but our pace came back by the end. I think with a few more laps, I could have gone one or two positions higher and maybe even further forward.

“So now I’m really looking forward to the Feature Race tomorrow. It’s a longer race so I think with our really strong race pace, I can do the same or even better tomorrow.”