PREVIEW: Around the Hungaroring for Round 9

It’s a quickfire double as we head into the business end of the 2025 FIA Formula 3 campaign. Rafael Câmara and TRIDENT lead both Championships, and time is running out for their rivals to overturn their advantage.

With another old-school circuit to tackle this weekend in the form of the Hungaroring, and the threat of rain looming once again, here is all you need to know about the penultimate round of the season.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Friday gets underway at 09:55 local time with a crucial Free Practice session as teams look to get up to speed as quickly as possible.

That is followed by the second to last Qualifying session of the season, set to kick off at 15:00 local. Can anyone join Câmara, Nikola Tsolov and Brad Benavides as a polesitter in 2025?

Saturday brings the Sprint Race at 10:05 local time before the Feature Race on Sunday. The longer event begins at 08:30 local time and the threat of rain hangs over an important race for the third weekend in a row.

STAT PACK

• With two rounds to go, 13 drivers remain in mathematical contention for the Drivers’ Championship, from points leader Câmara down to Laurens van Hoepen in P13.
• After Noah Stromsted’s Sprint Race win at Spa, there have been 10 different winners in 2025
• Rafael Câmara will seal the title this weekend no matter what if he has a 40-point advantage after the Feature Race, but 39 points could be enough if other factors go his way.
• Nikita Johnson returns to FIA F3 with Hitech TGR for Round 9.

FROM THE GRID – Nikola Tsolov, Campos Racing

“It’s pretty technical, there’s a lot of chicanes around the lap and you need to get the right rhythm to be fast. It’s also pretty hot whenever we go there, so you have to manage the overheating. There’s low, medium and high-speed corners, which makes it unpredictable.

“The best place to overtake is T1 and T2. Usually, the challenge is to do the job in Qualifying. If you start at the front, it’s very likely no one is going to pass you. If you start in the back, your weekend is pretty much over unless there’s huge deg, but that’s not always the case.”

TECHNICAL PREVIEW

Pierre-Alain Michot, FIA Formula 3 Technical Director

“The Hungaroring tests the drivers’ ability to find time around a circuit where there’s little margin for error and that punishes the tyres. The Feature Race especially will require tyre management in order to get the best of the Pirelli tyres for the entirety of the race. The twisty layout of the track means downforce demand is high, and clean air rather than a slipstream will be the preference here for Qualifying.”

PIRELLI PREVIEW

The Hungarian Grand Prix weekend sees a softer compound than last year’s being used, with the P Zero Yellow medium chosen for the final round prior to the summer break. At the Hungaroring, drivers will have to do a good job of managing the tyres, to ensure they last to the end of the race without losing all their performance in the closing laps. This issue could also arise if they stress one of the two axles too much. The Budapest weekend usually features very high temperatures, especially on the track surface, as it is very dark. However, if conditions are cooler this year, then graining could put in an appearance, leading to a sudden drop in performance.