Villagómez looking to take lessons from podium battle in Monza into remainder of 2025

10 September 2025

Rafael Villagómez was happy with his and Van Amersfoort Racing’s performance across the Monza weekend but was left to reflect on what might have been.

The Mexican driver was involved in the fight for the podium places late-on in Sunday’s Feature Race but ultimately missed out on P3 after Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí demoted him to fourth.

Speaking afterwards, Villagómez said there was plenty to be proud of from their weekend in Monza, and that there were important lessons to take forward into the remainder of the season.

“It’s a funny one. You’re always going to be disappointed with P4, because at the same time, the podium was so close. We were pretty much there the whole race. To lose it inside the last five laps is painful.

“But, Pepe did a really good job, he was really quick. We were starting to struggle a bit with the rears, so there’s not much we could have done.

“When I got past Pepe at one point, I thought I could get to Duerksen with DRS. I just needed to manage things for a couple of laps and not overpush and just wait for that. We saw yesterday that people that had the better tyres at the end could make quite a bit of difference, especially at a track like this.

Villagómez was able to overcut a lot of rivals with good pace and the right strategy

“So the idea to wait for a chance in order to get to P2 was always there, but it’s just a shame it didn’t happen that way. But that’s racing. We have to learn from Campos, and I think Pepe was very clever, so I’ll learn from that and when the next opportunity comes, do a better job.”

Going into the specifics of his race, Villagómez says that strategy was maximised as much as the team could. The entire grid opted to start on the Supersoft Pirelli tyres, locking everyone into the same strategy at lights out.

A plan to extend the first stint however paid dividends, as he gained several positions by delaying his mandatory stop.

“The start wasn’t that great for us. We struggled a bit like yesterday, but it was clear with the strategy we were aiming to send it as much as possible and overcut a lot of the grid.

“It was going well but then we had the Safety Car that arrived at the right moment, so no one really got lucky in that way. Some people went a bit earlier like Richard for example, I was just behind him before he pitted and then the Safety Car came out.

The Mexican driver says maximising Qualifying will be the focus going forward

“After that it was about keeping calm and doing the best job possible. There was quite a lot to do today, so it was a great race.”

Looking ahead to Baku and beyond, the Van Amersfoort driver says that the crucial lessons will be important to take into the remaining races.

He says that the team will be eager to make amends in Qualifying between now and the end of the season, as that is where they can gain the most before the end of the campaign.

“In the big picture of the season, we started a lot stronger than last year. We had a little bit of a struggle phase in the middle of this year, but the pace has been good in the races

“This weekend it was a shame that we couldn't do another lap on a new set in Qualifying, because I believe the pace was strong. But in the end, I think our main focus is Qualifying for us as a team. We know that when we qualify, well, we can always race well.”