FEATURE RACE: Boya takes Silverstone win after rain and Red Flag

Mari Boya earned his first Feature Race victory in FIA Formula 3, keeping control of things at the front through a torrential downpour that resulted in the race being shortened by a Red Flag.

The Campos Racing driver finished ahead of Théophile Nael, who wound up second for Van Amersfoort Racing and Noel Léon for PREMA Racing in third.

AS IT HAPPENED

Pre-race rain split strategies on the grid with some taking Wet Pirelli tyres and others fitted with Hard slick tyres and as the formation lap started, the rain intensified.

Those on the wets got the best start but Nikola Tsolov, Ugo Ugochukwu and Rafael Câmara each tumbled down the order with the track too wet for their slick tyres.

It left Boya to take the lead ahead of Nael and Léon in the top three, with Sprint winner Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Laurens van Hoepen following in fourth and fifth.

Despite a spin on the opening lap, Alessandro Giusti proved how much of an advantage those on Wets had, as he moved back up to P16 with a pass on Ugochukwu and Tsolov on Lap 2.

Laptimes were 10 seconds slower for those on Hards versus those on the Wets.

Van Hoepen moved up to fourth with a dive to the inside at Vale, while Boya began to stretch his advantage to beyond two seconds by the start of Lap 5.

Christian Ho and James Wharton moved themselves up to seventh with moves on Inthraphuvasak, dropping the Campos driver down to eighth.

Charlie Wurz was the first of those to have started on dries to bail on their Hard tyres, and he pitted on Lap 7 to fit the Wets. Martinius Stenshorne followed suit a lap later, as the laptime deficit between Wets and Hards remained at seven-seconds per lap.

Tsolov and Câmara remained on track and with a dive to the inside entering Vale, the Championship leader passed the Campos driver for P17 on Lap 9.

Câmara, Tsolov and Ugochukwu were into the pitlane on Lap 10 to finally fit the Wet tyres with the rain intensifying.

Louis Sharp spun off the road at the final corner despite running on Wets, and the Rodin Motorsport driver’s stoppage brought out the Safety Car on Lap 11 as rain continued to hit harder.

While the Safety Car remained on the track, van Hoepen was handed a five-second time penalty for a false start. The Dutch driver was running in fifth.

With the rain remaining heavy, the Red Flag was out on Lap 14, and the race was not resumed.

It meant Boya was a Feature Race winner for the first time ahead of Nael and Léon, with Roman Bilinski finished fourth for Rodin. Van Hoepen was P5 on the road but once his penalty was applied, he dropped down to P7.

This promoted Ho up to P5 and Wharton to sixth, with Santiago Ramos, Bruno del Pino and Inthraphuvasak completing the top 10.

KEY QUOTE – Mari Boya, Campos Racing

“What a weekend! Super happy, happy to maximise all the potential we have had. We’ve had really good races in the last few races. They’ve been really good for us. Also really proud to join the Aston Martin family. All the races with them have been really good, so I’m really excited to keep working. It’s still really open in the Championship, so let’s go for everything and gracias to Campos Racing!”

THE CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS

Rafael Câmara retains his lead in the Drivers’ Championship with 120 points ahead of Tim Tramnitz in second on 93. Nikola Tsolov is third on 91, while Mari Boya’s win moves him up to fourth in the Standings on 85. Martinius Stenshorne completes the top five on 76.

In the Teams’ Standings Campos Racing have taken the lead on 210 points, with TRIDENT dropping to second on 207. MP Motorsport are third with 160 points, while Van Amersfoort Racing are fourth with 124 and ART Grand Prix complete the top five on 118 points.

UP NEXT

There’s a short break before the FIA Formula 3 paddock reconvenes in Spa-Francorchamps for Round 8 of the 2025 campaign, from July 25-27.