WHAT WE LEARNED: The big lessons from Round 7 at Silverstone

9 July 2025

Another weekend of drama in the title fight and we have an interesting final three rounds in store. Rafael Câmara leads the way in the Drivers’ Championship, but his rivals aren’t giving up yet.

Campos Racing have taken over the lead in the Teams’ stakes, and the Spanish outfit look to be finding their best form at the perfect time. Here are a few things we picked up on over the course of Round 7 at Silverstone.

HEDGING THEIR BETS

It was interesting to see the strategy play out in real time on the grid on Sunday as teams and drivers weighed up a start on Wets or Hard tyres while rain intensified.

Four teams didn’t split their drivers, and two outfits paid the price. Van Amersfoort Racing and ART Grand Prix fitted their three chargers with the blue-banded Wets, while TRIDENT and AIX Racing committed fully the other way and went with slick Hard tyres. The rest played the odds.

The ‘science’ behind those teams’ decisions is easy to understand. By diversifying their strategy, they were covering off all the bases and improving their odds of calling it right with at least one car.

They kept their hopes of a good result as open as possible, with at least one of their drivers in the right boat whichever way the conditions went.

It was also interesting to see which drivers pushed to start on the Wet tyres, with the likes of James Wharton and Roman Bilinski firm in their belief that dry tyres were definitely not the way to go.

The ART driver also noted how important confidence from the driver’s side of things matters in these types of situations.

Conviction in what the weather is currently doing from the car is usually more reliable than focusing on the laptops and what the weather might do later, and so it proved on Sunday.

DON’T COUNT BOYA OUT

Boya has been in tremendous form as of late and earned his first Feature win at Silverstone

Mari Boya put in a masterful drive around Silverstone on Sunday, claiming his maiden FIA F3 Feature Race victory in style.

The Spaniard was composed throughout the race, surging up the order from lights out to take an early lead, as he was one of the drivers who called the tyre strategy right and started on the Wets.

The Aston Martin Driver Academy talent was assured in the rain as conditions worsened, and the victory launched Boya up the standings to fourth.

He is currently the driver in form, as dating back to Round 4 and Monte Carlo, Boya has secured more points than anyone else by some margin.

The Campos Racing driver has added 71 points to his 2025 tally between Monaco and Silverstone. By comparison, Championship leader Rafael Câmara has scored just 47, though continues to lead the way on 120.

Even teammate Nikola Tsolov, who has been in a bright patch of form in his own right, has scored just 58 in comparison, and is now just six points ahead of Boya in third.

And that’s including the fact that Boya’s victory did not count for full points, with the Spaniard earning just 19 for his efforts, as the Silverstone Feature Race did not reach 75% distance on Sunday.

With three rounds to go, Boya is going from strength to strength. He says the Championship leader is not driving with the confidence of earlier in the year, while he fancies his chances.

Keep an eye on him at Spa.

CONFIDENCE AT CAMPOS

Adrian Campos Jr will be hopeful his team can continue their current vein of form

While Boya is the driver in form currently, Campos are definitely riding a wave of momentum currently, as they lead the way in the Teams’ Standings leaving the UK.

Pole for Tsolov on Friday was followed by a maiden F3 victory for Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak on Saturday in the Sprint Race, before Boya ensured the Spanish outfit swept the weekend on Sunday.

The team leads the Championship on 209 points to TRIDENT’s 207, but the Italian team has earned just 64 points in the most recent three rounds compared to Campos’ 103.

As we reach the pressure end of the campaign, Campos is consistently earning double-digit points hauls in every race. Meanwhile TRIDENT’s advantage has been overhauled following two scoreless results and two single digit returns in the same timeframe.

After PREMA Racing’s near monopoly on the Teams’ crown, things had looked like TRIDENT would return to the F3 summit for the first time since 2021, but they now face a stern test in the form of Campos, who are going for their first Teams’ title in the Championship.