Title fight ‘far from over’ says Câmara after taking the lead in Baku

Rafael Câmara took victory of the Baku Feature Race 2 and with it, left a race weekend with the championship lead for the first time season.

The Invicta Racing driver had a strong few days in Azerbaijan, qualifying in the top five for both races, before finishing fourth in Feature Race 1 after a drag race to the line with Noel León.

That result on Friday afternoon earned Câmara lead of the championship over Nikola Tsolov by one point, and he extended it to seven on Saturday morning.

The Brazilian driver took the chequered flag in second but gained a place at the line once Alexander Dunne’s five-second time penalty took effect.

This means Câmara leaves a race weekend at the top of the Standings going to Lusail, but he is not taking anything for granted.

“It feels good,” he said on leading the championship. “It’s my first time leading this championship this whole season, and it was good to get the win to extend the gap.

“We know that it's still far from over, but we will still keep working hard to make sure that we are ready for every scenario moving forward.”

Câmara finished ahead of title rival Nikola Tsolov, after the two used the same strategy. With Ritomo Miyata having stopped on track, many drivers, including Dunne who was leading, opted to make their mandatory stop anticipating a Virtual Safety Car.

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Câmara chose to stay out, as he did when the second VSC was signalled with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak having pulled over to the side of the road.

The Invicta driver came in once racing conditions returned and both title hopefuls made gains on their rivals, although Câmara admitted he was not convinced it was the right call at the time.

“On that side I thought that we actually made a mistake, but the pace was looking very strong after the VSC,” he said.

“I think because of that we were able to come back ahead. I think that was very important for the whole race. I think overall everything went well today but we were just missing a bit of pace to try something and get the win on track.”

While trying to make a move on Dunne ahead, Câmara was also forced to defend from the charging Tsolov in the final stages.

The Ferrari Driver Academy member revealed what he was thinking as his Campos Racing rival closed in.

“I saw Nikola coming and he was quick,” he continued. “Luckily, it was just not enough to get us. He was looking very strong. Also Alex was doing a good job.

“In the beginning we were just trying to be there to try something in the end. I knew he had the five second penalty, so I knew that I could actually wait a bit and see how things were and try again. I really tried in the end, but it was just not enough to stay.

“But even with that I've been a bit lucky, he finished second and we got the win. So for the championship it was very good.”

On the title fight, the top three are covered by 18 points going into Lusail, and Câmara sees some similarities with his 2025 Formula 3 title-winning campaign.

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“I mean, it's very close,” he said on the fight. “It’s probably now quite a bit similar to last year, being the one that is being chased.

“But anyway, I think whatever the situation, we just really focus on what we can do in the best way. This will be the target for the last two rounds, to really try to maximise what we can.

“I think they are two tracks that are very strong for the team. So we will try to keep it up and finish in a good way.”