That is how you seize a championship lead. Rafael Câmara walked away from a wild weekend in Azerbaijan leading the standings for the first time this season, courtesy of a Feature Race 2 victory he inherited at the chequered flag.
The Invicta Racing driver put together a solid campaign across the weekend. He qualified inside the top five for both races before fighting through a drag race to the line with Noel León to secure fourth place in Feature Race 1 on Friday afternoon. That opening result was enough to hand him a single-point advantage over Nikola Tsolov, but Saturday morning brought the real breakthrough.
It’s probably now quite a bit similar to last year, being the one that is being chased,
Crossing the line second on the road, the Brazilian driver was promoted to the win once a five-second time penalty for Alexander Dunne was applied. With that, Câmara heads to Lusail sitting pretty at the top of the standings, though he knows the job is far from finished.
“It feels good,” Câmara said. “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.”
Strategic chess played a massive role in the outcome. When Ritomo Miyata stopped on track, race leader Dunne and several others dived into the pits anticipating a Virtual Safety Car. Câmara and title rival Nikola Tsolov elected to stay out. When a second VSC appeared after Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak pulled off the road, the Invicta machine finally pitted once racing conditions resumed. It was a gamble that paid off, even if the Ferrari Driver Academy member doubted it in the moment.
“On that side I thought that we actually made a mistake, but the pace was looking very strong after the VSC,” he admitted. “I think because of that we were able to come back ahead. I think that was very important for the whole race.”
Late in the race, the battle reached a boiling point. While hunting down Dunne at the front, Câmara had to look in his mirrors to fend off a hard-charging Tsolov from Campos Racing. Knowing about Dunne's impending penalty allowed him to play a smart waiting game, but holding off the chasing pack was no small task.
“I saw Nikola coming and he was quick,” Câmara said. “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.”
Now, the top three in the title fight are separated by just 18 points with two rounds remaining. Drawing parallels to his 2025 Formula 3 title-winning campaign, Câmara is bracing to be the hunted as the series heads to tracks he believes suit the team well.
“It’s probably now quite a bit similar to last year, being the one that is being chased,” he noted. “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.”
