Nikola Tsolov wins as Slater Shines in brilliant Bahrain Sprint! Formula 3 Bahrain Sprint Race report

Credit: James Sutton

Red Bull junior driver Nikola Tsolov won a record-equalling fourth Formula 3 race after taking victory in the Bahrain sprint race on a sunny Saturday.

Tsolov, racing for Campos, held off a charging Freddie Slater who pressured the Bulgarian all the way to the line on FIA Formula 3 race debut! It was a very busy race that had lots of battling throughout as well as two Safety Cars and seven drivers failing to finish!

The Bulgarian racing driver took the win after a fantastic battle with Slater before the second Safety Car. Slater had a great debut but would have to settle for second for his maiden Formula 3 podium. Also, Tuukka Taponen completed the podium for his maiden podium finish in the championship.

Despite stalling on the grid, Rafael Camara fought back hard and finished 12th. He scored no points but the championship leader will start the Feature Race from pole position!

How the Bahrain Formula 3 Sprint Race unfolded

For the first time in almost a month, it was time for racing once again in the FIA Formula 3 Championship taking place at the Bahrain International Circuit. A venue that has played host to the last three Formula 3 season openers but in 2025 the Bahrain International Circuit was to play host to round two.

A track that Formula 3 had been familiar with in recent times with a three-day test for all 30 drivers at the end of March to get to grips with the modern era of Formula 3 machinery. With all having a decent experience of the circuit in recent times, it was set to be a close weekend throughout the field.

Friday's action was dominated by the championship leader Rafael Camara who picked up from where he left off in Melbourne. Topping the morning Free Practice was not satisfactory for Camara, who went and took a second successive pole position in Formula 3, in just his second Formula 3 qualifying.

Qualifying in 12th and crucially taking reverse grid pole position for the Saturday Sprint Race was the Hitech of Joshua Dufek and would start the race from the front of the field.

Hitech would have a great chance of scoring big points with a front row lockout on the Sprint race grid. Martinius Stenshorne would start alongside Dufek in second position. Behind them on debut would be Freddie Slater, would be participating in the AIX Racing 28 car for the second round. He would start third after qualifying 10th!

​ The lights went out and a positive start from Dufek saw him keep out the challenge from his Hitech TGR teammate Stenshorne in second place. A good start from the Austrian.

This left Stenshorne offset and under pressure from the debut Brit Slater and the AIX Racing driver would take second through the turn four- turn seven complex. What a start to his Formula 3 career!

Drama further back however as championship leader Camara stalled on the grid and dropped back, all the way behind the medical car which no doubt caused some panic in that Trident cockpit. However, the Brazilian driver managed to keep his cool and carry on for the rest of the race.

Lap three of proceedings saw a change for the race lead with Slater shining once more as he took the lead from pole sitter Joshua Dufek with a lovely pass into turn 1 - using the DRS advantage down the start/finish straight.

Puncture problems had been a themed issue for a few drivers in the opening three laps with AIX Racing's Nicola Marinangeli and Campos Racing's Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak suffering punctures and being forced to pit.

Both punctures had been caused by contact with other drivers. Marinangeli had made contact with the DAMS Lucas Oil of Nicola Lacorte whereas Inthraphuvasak made contact with the rear of Trident's Noah Stromsted.

However, there was a pause to the green flag racing action as the Safety Car was called upon on lap four of the race due to the two McLaren junior Prema drivers, Ugo Ugochukwu and Brando Badoer, colliding at turn 1.

Badoer would survive a scare from his teammate making a lunge but Ugochuwku would be out of the race and the incident would be investigated after the session between the two drivers. Ugochukwu and Marinangeli ended up retiring as Marinangeli pulled into the pit lane with extensive damage sustained from the Lacorte contact.

It would be a short stoppage and Ugochuwku's Prema car was quickly removed. By lap seven the race was back underway with green flags flying and Slater controlling the restart from Nikola Tsolov who had moved up to third place and was looking to hunt down the top two in Slater and Dufek.

At the restart, there were battles galore up and down the field. One at the restart was Tsolov who made almost an immediate pass for second on the Hitech of Dufek and the pole sitter was down to third and under pressure from his teammate Stenshorne.

Soon Tsolov had caught up to Slater's DRS and on lap nine he would make a move down the inside into turn 1 but the Campos had gone in too deep and gave the position back to Slater. The battle was getting very close for the lead of the Sprint at the Bahrain International Circuit. 

Meanwhile, Stenshorne took third from Dufek with a move into turn 1 and Dufek was struggling and beginning to fall back. He soon went on to lose fourth to the ART of Tuukka Taponen.

The battle was continuing on for a couple of laps between the leading pair but eventually on lap 11 Tsolov had a breakthrough. The Campos driver made a move on Slater and the AIX driver had done brilliantly but could contain the Red Bull junior much further.

Further behind French duo Theophile Nael and Nicola Lacorte had picked up damage and both were out of the Sprint. Both suffered with contact being made from behind and therefore both would be forced to retire due to rear suspension damage.

There was to be a second appearance from the Aston Martin Safety Car in the Bahrain Formula 3 Sprint Race. Tuukka Taponen had caught the top two at that point but unfortunately the race was neutralised?

The reason for the neutralisation would be a tangle between the Hitech of Dufek and the Van Amersfoort of Ivan Domingues who came together at the first corner. Both were out of the race and both were to be investigated after the race.

Formula 3 went back racing for two final laps after the Safety car was brought in and although he was trying with all his might to get a win on debut, Slater could not get by Tsolov and would have to settle for second.

Nikola Tsolov took victory in Formula 3 for a fourth time, which equals the record, and with the races left in the 2025 season. He has an opportunity to record his own! He would see off the challenges from Freddie Slater and Tuukka Taponen to take to the top step of the podium.

Slater with a tremendous debut and will be hoping to add to the podium and points picked up in the Feature Race where he will start 10th. The other two, Tsolov and Taponen will be hoping to do the same.

Completing the top five in fourth and fifth respectively were Rodin Motorsport's Callum Voisin and Hitech TGR's Martinius Stenshorne. 

Action would return on Sunday for the Feature Race at the Bahrain International Circuit with Rafael Camara from Feature Race pole position.

2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship: Round 2 - Bahrain Sprint Race Provisional result

1. Nikola Tsolov
2. Freddie Slater
3. Tuukka Taponen
4. Callum Voisin
5. Martinius Stenshorne
6. Tim Tramnitz
7. Alessandro Giusti
8. Christian Ho
9. Charlie Wurz
10. Noah Stromsted
11. Noel Leon
12. Rafael Camara
13. James Wharton
14. Louis Sharp 
15. Mari Boya
16. Laurens Van Hoepen
17. Matias Zagazeta
18. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak
19. Bruno Del Pino
20. Roman Bilinski
21. Gerrard Xie
22. Brando Badoer
23. Javier Sagrera
24. Joshua Dufek (DNF)
25. Ivan Domingues (DNF)
26. Santiago Ramos (DNF)
27. Nicola Lacorte (DNF)
28. Theophile Nael (DNF)
29. Ugo Ugochukwu (DNF)
30. Nicola Marinangeli (DNF)

Brandon Whiteside
Writer - F1 Journal