Rafael Câmara: 'A good start but we have to keep working hard' with points lead in reach

It was a positive Thursday for Rafael Câmara as the Invicta Racing driver secured P5 and P3 in the Qualifying double-header in Baku.

The end result means the Ferrari Driver Academy talent will be starting ahead of title rival and Championship leader Nikola Tsolov in both Feature Races.

Reflecting on the day overall, Câmara said that he was satisfied with the end result but that there was more performance left on the table.

"Overall I think it was good quali," he said looking back at his sessions. "I'm happy with what we did today and I think there was a bit more that we could maximise today but overall, we are in a good position for the races.

"It was a better start to the weekend than Nikola, but still, it's a long weekend from here and there are a lot of things that can happen.

"We just need to keep working hard and make sure that we don't relax. I'm feeling good, but a lot of action can happen so we'll really make sure that we are ready and can do some good races to move forward from where we started."

Though the Brazilian is set to start ahead of his title rival in both the Feature Races, Câmara says that there was time left on the table, especially in the second Qualifying segment.

The Invicta driver opted to pit before the chequered flag holding onto provisional pole at the time. Unfortunately for him, both Rodin Motorsport drivers were able to improve, leaving him third in the order.

While he was disappointed not to add another pole to his 2026 record, he says that there are plenty of opportunities ahead around the Baku City Circuit, with overtaking opportunities around the lap.

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"Here in Baku, it's not the end of the world if we start a bit behind, so for sure we can have some good races and good points for the championship.

"Q2 was a bit more open to try different things and I think we didn't really maximise what we could have. But still like I said, it was positive, we have two races and we can still get some good points.

"I really enjoyed driving the track. There's some high-speed corners with no margin for error, so it's quite nice and I enjoy street circuits in general, so really enjoyed today. In FP you get quite used to the track quite quickly and it felt pretty comfortable for quali, so I think it's a nice track."