Formula 3 kicked off the on-track race action for the second time this season. Nikola Tsolov took the victory by the end of Saturday’s F3 Sprint Race 2025 Bahrain GP.
It was won by a very close margin as rookie for the weekend, Freddie Slater, came out of the gates with an insane amount of hunger to win on his Formula 3 debut.
Here’s what happened.
The Bulgarian Lion takes another W 🦁
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) April 12, 2025
A mature, composed Sprint Race victory for Nikola Tsolov in Sakhir 👏#F3 #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/qSsqi80Z7Y
F3 Qualifying | 2025 Bahrain GP | Câmara Does it Again
Action From the Start
It was an all Hitech TGR front row for the Formula 3 Sprint Race as the top twelve from the qualifying grid had been reversed as usual for this race. Dufek sat on reverse pole with Stenshorne alongside him.
“On the first two laps, you can’t mess about and have to get on with it.” – Freddie Slater, F3 Press Conference.
Freddie Slater started from P3 on his F3 debut with AIX Racing. As the lights went out to commence the race, the 16-year-old rookie wasted no time in going after the race lead. The young Briton went around the outside of Stenshorne at turn 4 on the opening lap, stealing second place from him and opening up a gap immediately. It wasn’t an overtake for everyone watching – it was a statement of intent.
Much further down the order, Camara stalled from twelfth on the grid. While he was able to get the car going, he was so far back that he was behind the medical car as he approached turn eleven!
DNFs and Battles Galore!
Inthraphuvasak picked up a puncture and front wing damage as Formula 3 naturally began to embrace its chaotic roots. This sent him down the pack as he had to pit as a result of this.
Back at the front of the field, Slater took the lead from Dufek down into turn one on lap three. Much like he had done with Stenshorne, he then began to pull away from the experienced driver with apparent ease.
On the fourth lap, Marinangeli was forced to retire. But this unfortunate turn of events for the Italian driver was overshadowed by another incident elsewhere on the track. Ugochukwu and Badoer came together down into the first two corners of the lap, with the former DNFing as a result. Badoer received a puncture as part of the two drivers coming together but was able to continue. Naturally, the Safety Car came out and brought the field back together.
Back to Green Flag Racing
The Safety Car came back in at the end of lap 6. We were immediately back to being treated to some excellent racing action. Tukka Taponen tried Slater’s move on Stenshorne into turn 4 but couldn’t manage to make it stick.
A front wing change was needed for Roman Bilinskini at the end of lap 8. This was not an isolated incident, as the vast amount of close wheel-to-wheel action throughout the entire pack pushed everyone to their limits in the heat of the desert. Naël, for example, was forced into the pits after he sustained damage to the rear of his car following contact with Sagrera.
It was impressive that there wasn’t more damage to other vehicles or a vast amount more of cars retiring from the race with how impossibly close many of them were at times at parts of the track where it simply didn’t seem possible. That’s Formula 3.
Tsolov Vs Slater
The battle for the lead of the race was an epic one. Tsolov overtook Slater into turn 1 but was back in second place by the time the pair of them exited turn 2. Such was the confidence of rookie Slater against the more experienced hands of Tsolov.
Lap after lap, Tsolov attempted to make a move on Slater to claim the lead and keep it. But nothing he did seemed to be working. Once again, an attempt was made into turn 4 for Slater who came back and edged ahead of him as they exited the tight corner of turn 6. Turn 8 also didn’t provide Tsolov with any glory. Finally, on lap eleven, Tsolov was able to overtake Slater for the lead and keep it, coming out of the first turn.
While Slater wouldn’t be able to get back past him, he was never far away. The Briton constantly kept the Bulgarian on his toes.
Safety Car and Race to the End
With the focus being on the two drivers at the front of the pack, focus wasn’t fully on everything else behind them. But there was plenty to pay attention to. There was an intense battle for third place on lap 9 between Stenshorne, Dufek, and Taponen. Some brilliant, close but fair, wheel-to-wheel action between the entire trio ensued, which was a joy to watch.
Lacorte became another retirement from the race with damage to his rear tow link. But he wouldn’t be the last retirement from the race. After Voisin got around the outside of Giusti in turn eleven on lap fourteen, the Safety Car was brought out again.
Dufek and Dominigues had come together and DNFd. The front left of the latter tapped into the rear right of the former as Domingues slid into Dufek and took them both out of the race. This set up a two-lap showdown for the end of the Sprint Race. It was a race that was putting not just the drivers, but everyone watching, out of breath.
“I’ll try and get on with it then!” – Freddie Slater, Team Radio.
In a fierce fight for the win, Tsolov utilised his experience over debutant Slater to come out on top 👊#F3 #BahrainGPhttps://t.co/zX07Z4d47G
— Formula 3 (@Formula3) April 12, 2025
The Final Laps
The Safety Car came back in again at the end of lap seventeen. Slater and Taponen did their best to move up the podium positions, but both simply ran out of time in the end. Tsolov narrowly clinched the victory, his fourth in Formula 3. Slater settled for P2 but was disappointed on the team radio on his cool-down lap, despite becoming the second youngest podium finisher in F3 history. Taponen finished in third.
Voisin and Stenshorne made up the rest of the top five at the F3 Sprint Race 2025 Bahrain GP. Tramnitz, Giusti, Ho, Wurz and Stromstead rounded out the top ten.
While Tsolov was able to hold off Slater in the end, the rookie’s pure speed and natural talent is sure to get the attention of those in Formula 1. Post race, of the three podium finishes, Slater was the only driver who appeared unfazed by the hot conditions and as if he was an experienced F3 driver.
Formula 3 is always a championship to watch for the stars of tomorrow – but after this Sprint Race, it feels even more so.
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Feature Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool
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