F1 Fast Track: Ferrari’s Rafael Camara arrives as social media rumours silenced

The Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships are up and running in 2026. This year, there will be an additional, PlanetF1.com podium, to play for.

In this new PF1 series, we will award three points to the driver who impresses us most over an F2/F3 weekend. Two points shall go to our runner-up, and a single point for P3. By the end of the year, we shall have our winner. In the event of a tie, the driver who scores the most points on-track, will clinch our best and fairest award. Right, let’s get to it!

Rafael Camara opens Formula 2 victory account

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The pressure was on for Ferrari junior Rafael Camara coming into F2 2026. As the reigning Formula 3 champion, and aligned with the Invicta team which has had F2’s title scene on lock in recent years, expectations were high.

It felt like Camara truly arrived in Barcelona. He bags our three points.

After a bitterly disappointing Monaco feature race, Camara this time converted his pole into victory in Barcelona. Extending his opening stint on the softs to 22 laps, Camara’s strategy opened the door to an impressive first F2 feature race win.

James Robinson, the Invicta Racing team principal, told the F2 website that his team felt “very vindicated that we were finally able to convert the pace into points.”

Robinson also addressed “a few comments” which he had seen “on social media at the end of last week about the relationship between Rafa and his engineer” Pau Rivera.

Robinson stressed “that could not be more wrong in terms of the relationship there. Rafa, his engineer and the whole team have an absolutely magnificent relationship. Rafa’s a brilliant part of the team.”

In a further statement given exclusively to PlanetF1.com, Robinson extended special praise to Camara and Rivera for the achievement in Barcelona.

“It was a big relief to finally get that win for Rafa on Sunday and convert his undoubted pace into points.

“After the disappointment of Monaco and Montreal this was the perfect way to bounce back. It was a great reward for the entire team after the mechanics heroics in Montreal and Monaco, and the engineering group (especially Rafa’s engineer specifically) deserve a lot of credit for the race strategy, although it couldn’t have been done if Rafa didn’t execute it, which he did perfectly.

“Obviously a disappointing race for Joshua [Durksen], but we know he’s got what it takes to win at this level and are confident he’ll be able to show it moving forward.”

Camara earns our three points.

Gabriele Mini steadies the ship

After a point-less Monaco feature race, F2 championship leader Mini delivered the perfect response via a double podium in Barcelona.

Following his P2 in the Barcelona sprint with P3 in the feature, Mini leaves Barcelona with a six-point lead over Red Bull junior Nikola Tsolov. Camara, up to third, trails Mini by 17.

With outright pace versus rivals potentially lacking, Mini continues to regard execution as the key to his and MP Motorsport’s success.

The Alpine junior told the F2 website: “I think almost every time apart from the Monaco Feature and the Australia weekend with the issue I had, we almost always maximise the results.

“But as I said many times, it’s what we have to do. We know that at the moment we can see some teams are very, very strong. But all we can do for ourselves is to keep working and then to try and catch them.

“At the same time, we maximise every single race and every single time we go on track.

“At the moment I am quite happy. But as I said many times, we haven’t been the quickest, I think, apart from Miami race 2 and the Melbourne weekend.

“But we are still there, at the top. So, I’m very, very happy, very satisfied with the work we have been doing and we have done so far.

“Of course, the results are showing that we are doing a good job and this is a boost of confidence and something that is good for us and makes us want to get even more.”

Our two points for Barcelona go to Mini.

Kush Maini shines in Barcelona sprint

Securing our final point from F2 in Barcelona is another Alpine-backed driver, Kush Maini.

The Indian racer delivered a sublime performance to control the sprint, and added two further points with P9 in the feature.

His first win with ART, Maini, who was told that he flew off the line at the sprint start, said: “Obviously very happy. I think that was the plan. We’ve had good starts all year and I really think the team deserved this one. We’ve been quick all year really.

“Monaco was a bit unfortunate, and we made up for it in the races a bit, but they really deserve this and they’ve been putting a lot of work.

“I mean, me and the team have had a few tough seasons and I’m glad this race is really going to boost our confidence to keep pushing and the pace was great. Normally ART, if anything, struggled in the race pace, but I think we proved today that the car was great all race and I’m really excited to see what we can do this year.”

Barcelona F2 points awarded

Rafael Camara, Invicta Racing – 3 points
Gabriele Mini, MP Motorsport – 2 points
Kush Maini, ART Grand Prix – 1 point

F2 2026 season tally

1. Nikola Tsolov, Campos Racing – 8 points
2. Gabriele Mini, MP Motorsport – 7 points
=3. Rafael Camara, Invicta Racing – 3 points
=3. Martinius Stenshorne, Rodin Motorsport – 3 points

More on the F1 junior ladder from PlanetF1.com

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Theophile Nael puts on a show in Barcelona

As was the case in Monaco, Formula 3 also went racing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in a busy race weekend of action.

The star of the show was Theophile Nael, the Campos driver taking his first Formula 3 victory in style.

With pole in the bag, Nael did not look like a driver yet to claim victory in F3. Despite sustained pressure from Hiyu Yamakoshi for large parts of the race, Nael held firm to become an F3 race winner, and further boost his title hopes.

“Super happy to first win in FIA Formula 3 for me, after a long time,” he said. “The team deserves it.

“Last week in Monaco, I was close to grabbing the first place, but anyway, it was good points for the championship and this weekend we came back even stronger, I guess. Super happy, good points for the team as well.

“It was quite difficult, to be honest. Hiyu behind was pushing quite hard, so I had to manage my tyres and still keep him out of the DRS. It was quite tough. I was struggling quite a lot at the beginning of the race and then it started to get better and better. I just took it easy at the end of the last two laps to avoid mistakes and finish as the race leader.”

With a 100 per cent pole record in F3 2026, Nael has now converted that into victory. He deservedly claims our three points.

James Wharton wins disrupted Barcelona sprint

Two points go to Prema’s James Wharton, who handled two safety car restarts on his way to the Barcelona sprint win.

Wharton won out in a crucial early-race battle with Trident’s Freddie Slater, before taking Gerrard Xie for the lead.

From there, Wharton rode out a pair of Safety Car restarts and fresh Slater pressure to claim his second victory in F3.

The Prema driver said: “It’s definitely a most welcome result for me and especially for the team as well.

“We’ve definitely had the pace all year, and we just need to qualify a bit better.

“At the end of the day, we had the opportunity to show what we have today, and I feel like we did a really good job of it. We showed that we can pass cars as well. So, I’m really happy and really happy for the team as well.”

Hiyu Yamakoshi bounces back after disqualification heartbreak

Hiyu Yamakoshi thought he was off the mark in F3 with a Monaco sprint win, only to be disqualified post-race for a car technical infringement.

But, the Japanese racer did not let his head drop. It was a double points finish for the Van Amersfoort driver in Barcelona, crowned by his P2 in the feature race.

Those results lift him to P7 in the championship, and combined with the impressive way in which he responded after Monaco, earns him our final Barcelona point.

Barcelona F3 points awarded

Theophile Nael, Campos Racing – 3 points
James Wharton, Prema Racing – 2 points
Hiyu Yamakoshi, Van Amersfoort Racing – 1 points

F3 2026 season tally

1. Ugo Ugochukwu, Campos Racing – 4 points
=2. Theophile Nael, Campos Racing – 3 points
=2. Brando Badoer, Rodin Motorsport – 3 points

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