Tim Tramnitz claims his first Formula 3 victory of the 2025 season, closing the gap in the overall standings – Second F3 victory after Monza in 2024
Tim Tramnitz celebrated his first victory of the current season in the Formula 3 sprint race in Imola. The 19-year-old from Hamburg took the lead early on and led a one-two victory for MP Motorsport; teammate Bruno del Pino finished second. This is Tramnitz’s second success in the Formula 3 championship after his triumph at Monza in 2024.
Tramnitz benefited from the reverse grid format in the sprint race: he finished eleventh in Friday’s qualifying, while his teammate del Pino was twelfth, meaning that both MP drivers started from the first two spots on the grid on Saturday. Del Pino initially maintained the lead, but Tramnitz used DRS at the start of the third lap to pass the Spaniard and take the lead. (Result)
“When you start the race from the front row, the goal is obviously to fight for the win,” said Tramnitz after the race. ”I was able to seize my chance early, overtake and move into the lead. After that, it was just a matter of managing the safety car restarts and doing a good job on the tires.”
In fact, the race was not without interruptions: several incidents, including crashes by Nicola Marinangeli and Matias Zagazeta, resulted in two safety car phases. But Tramnitz did not let that throw him off his game, maintaining control at every restart and managing his lead confidently to the finish.
“The team did a good job. I felt comfortable. We were pretty strong right from the start,” said Tramnitz, praising the work of MP Motorsport. The victory in Imola also has strategic significance: with 40 points, the German has now reduced the gap to leader Rafael Camara (56 points), who came away empty-handed in the sprint race. Tramnitz climbs to second place in the overall standings.
Nikola Zolow secured third place in Imola for Campos Racing, followed by Rodin drivers Louis Sharp and Roman Bilinski. Noah Strömsted (Trident), Tuukka Taponen (ART), Ugo Ugochukwu (Prema), Noel Leon (Prema), and Alessandro Giusti (MP Motorsport) completed the top 10.
Tramnitz will be looking to score more points in Sunday’s main race, starting from eleventh on the grid. The MP driver is optimistic: “Today was definitely good motivation for tomorrow. It’s the same goal as in Bahrain: aim for the top five and see what we can get out of it. We have an even better set of tires than today, which should work in our favor.”