Mari Boya claimed his maiden victory in the F3 Feature Race this weekend at the 2025 British GP. With the race determined by tyre choice, Boya charged ahead on the opening corner, controlling the race from the front.
Tyre choice was crucial as the rain fell at Silverstone. With the field split between slick and wet tyres, it was Mari Boya, Théophile Naël and Noel León who worked their way up to the podium. Pole sitter, Nikola Tsolov, fell out of the points after a dramatic start to the F3 Feature Race.
So Far This Weekend…
After a disqualification in the F3 Feature Race at the Austrian Grand Prix, Tsolov bounced back, taking his second consecutive pole position in the F3 Qualifying.
The Bulgarian held off a tightly contested fight against championship rival Rafael Camara. While Camara and his Trident teammates dominated the early minutes of qualifying, Tsolov and Prema’s Ugo Ugochukwu dominted the latter stages.
In Saturday’s Sprint Race, it was Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak who held off the rest of the field to take his own maiden F3 victory. The Thai driver showed his maturity in a dramatic race that was filled with safety cars, late overtakes and post race penalties. He now sits in P14 in the Championship as a result.
Mari Boya had also had a weekend to remember so far. The Aston Martin Academy driver qualified fourth for the feature race. Boya, who started the sprint race in ninth, moved up into the third, completing the podium.
Pre Race Dramas…
The dry conditions from Friday and Saturday had vanished as rain fell at the Silverstone Circuit. Championship contenders Tsolov, Camara and Tramnitz, stayed on the slick tyres. But it was drivers such Boya, Nael and Van Hoepen who made the switch to the wets.
With spray flying off the back of all of the cars on the Formation Lap, only Matias Zagazeta pitted, switching his wet tyres for a set of slicks. With half the field on slicks and the other half on wets, the F3 Feature was sure to be entertaining for the fans.
Lights Out!
It was lights out for the F3 feature race at the 2025 British Grand Prix. Campos’ Mari Boya, took an early lead. With the field split on tyre choice, it was those on the wets who charged to the front.
Boya showed why the Aston Martin Driver Academy had recently added him to their roster. He charged ahead of the field and built a gap of 1.8 seconds by the start of the second lap.
Alessandro Giusti was the first of the drivers to have an incident, spinning at the end of the opening lap.
The drivers on slicks were swallowed up by the rest of the field. Those behind on wet tyres made their charge through the field early on. Rodin’s Roman Bilinski was one of the biggest movers, making his way up from 15th to 6th in the opening few laps.
At the other end of the field, those on slick tyres were close to aquaplaning. Tsolov and Camara toppled down to 16th and 20th respectively. By Lap 5, Tsolov, who started on pole, was 40 seconds behind his Campos teammate Boya.
Brad Benavides brought out a short yellow flag on Lap 5. Benavides spun on the exit of the final corner after making contact with Stromsted’s back wheel. Benavides, who managed to get his car going again, pulled into the pits the following lap to retire. While the incident was under investigation, no further action was required by the stewards.
Bilinksi continued to show his wet weather dominance, moving from 5th to third after passing cars on the Hanger and Wellington straights.
Rain Increases
Heavier rain was predicted by most constructors. It then began to pour on Lap 10. This forced all of the remaining drivers on slick tyres to pit. As the rain increased so did the spray off the cars, with many drivers reporting limited visibility.
Louis Sharp, brought out the only safety car of the race on Lap 11. Sharp, who has moved from 23rd up to 7th, spun off in the final corner and straight into the gravel.
With the whole field now on wets, it was clear that those who started on wet tyres were the biggest movers. James Wharton, who started 20th, had moved up into 7th. Boya, Nael and Leon, who had been the top three since the first lap continued to impress in tough conditions.
The rain increased and the drivers ran off. Stenshorne, Camara and Tsolov all having their own small spins or run offs.
Red Flagged
Four laps later, under the safety car, the F3 Feature Race at the 2025 British GP was red flagged.
Race Directors were hoping to resume the race 10 minutes later. But the increase of rain and the risk of accidents led to the race being unable to be resumed.
With 15 of the 22 laps having been raced, Mari Boya thus won his first race of the 2025 F3 season. Boya was joined on the Feature Race podium by Théophile Naël and Noel León. With the full race distance not being run, the drivers will only pick up half the amount of points as they normally would.
Penalties and Standings
Van Hoepen picked ups a five second penalty for a false start. After an early end to the race, the ART Grand Prix driver was demoted from fifth to seventh.
AIX Racing drivers James Hedley and Nicola Marinangeli both picked up 10 second stop-go penalties for Safety Car infringements. While Zagazeta picked up a 5 second penalty for speeding in the pit lane on the formation lap.
While current championship contenders, Camara, Tsolov and Tramnitz all failed to score points. Boya, who picked up 12.5 points for his Feature Race victory will move up into fourth. After a dominant double header of racing, Boya has moved from the lower half of the top ten to being in contention for the championship.
There are now only three rounds left of the 2025 F3 Season. The driver will head Spa-Francorchamps for Round 8 on the 25th until the 27th of July, 2025.
Feature Image Credits: Formula 3 via X
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