Trident celebrate 1-2 in rain-soaked F3 Feature

With conditions pulling a complete switch-up at Albert Park, the F3 Feature Race was destined to be a chaotic end to the season opener as Rafael Camara and Noah Stromsted gave Trident an exciting 1-2 in Melbourne.

Following a prolonged formation lap procedure, the revised 20 laps of wet-weather chaos got underway with a rolling start.

It was a cautious journey through the opening sector, however, as the field grew confident on the drenched tarmac, the race soon came to a soggy halt thanks to Calum Voisin and Nikola Tsolov, with both drivers bogged down in the muddy grass after making contact at Turn 10.

Prior to the Safety Car, Martinius Stenshorne proved his overtaking prowess in yesterday’s sprint wasn’t a one-off, moving himself into P9 was a brave move.

As for our Australian and Kiwi representatives, James Wharton struggled at the start, losing two places before the early interruption while Louis Sharp held position.

On Lap 6, the race got back underway with Rafael Camara leading the pack into a dicey Turn 1. 

For the podium contenders, it was a clean start with the Trident duo working to build a gap, while further back, Santiago Ramos had a heart-in-mouth moment after being forced wide, while Stenshorne managed to take a trip on the grass all by himself. 

Having inherited a position from Ramos’ misfortune, Sharp was struck with his own bad luck when he found himself unable to stop on the approach to Turn 3, flying across the gravel and catching himself on the escape road. 

He rejoined in P18, fighting for position with the Mexican driver. 

At the half mark of the Feature, the interval between Camara, who set the fastest lap of the race, and Noah Stromsted had grown to four seconds, with the Norwegian’s focus shifting to the man just 1.6 seconds behind.

The fight for eighth between Stenshorne and Roman Bilinski began to heat up as the rain grew heavier, however, that didn’t stop Bilinski from having an unsuccessful look into Turn 3.

His charge was brought to an end just moments later when Christian Ho brought out the second Safety Car of the race after crashing at the difficult Turn 7.

The field followed the Aston Martin for four laps before the race was Red Flagged on Lap 18, handing Rafael Camara the first Feature Race trophy of 2025.

Add to the Trident pit wall’s joy, Stromsted was able to hold on to second place, with the threat of Nael in P3 neutralised thanks to Ho’s incident.

The Brazilian driver capped off a strong weekend by celebrating with his team and members of Scuderia Ferrari, pleasing the Italian outfit as a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy.

As for the local boys, Sharp managed to finish the chaotic race in 15th, while it was a tougher day in the office for Wharton who returned to the pitlane in P21.

The field will pack up, however, taking their time in doing so before heading to Sakir for Round 2 of the FIA Formula 3 Championship, taking place across April 11-13.

Image: Formula 3

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