Rafael Camara has got people talking in the paddock, and according to The Race, he has emerged as the clear favourite to step into Esteban Ocon's Haas seat for 2027. Out of the car, the Ferrari protege is humble and softly-spoken, but once he straps in, he turns into a ruthless machine capable of blowing his rivals away in qualifying. That blistering speed has made him a championship contender in Formula 2 this season, though it comes paired with the racecraft of a rough diamond.
The numbers tell the story of a rookie who is simply rapid. Camara holds a qualifying average of 2.54 in F2 this year, comfortably clear of second-year driver Alex Dunne at 3.77, followed by Nikola Tsolov at 5.77, Martinius Stenshorne at 7.54, Noel Leon at 8.31, Joshua Duerksen at 8.38, Kush Maini at 8.85, Dino Beganovic at 9.23, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak at 10.38, and Gabriele Mini at 10.92. You have to trace all the way back to 2021 F2 champion Oscar Piastri to find a rookie who picked up as many poles (five) with such a dominant average. That searing pace also underpinned his 2025 Formula 3 title campaign, where he took pole for four of the first five feature races.
His Invicta F2 team boss James Robinson has seen plenty of talent walk through the doors, including Audi F1 driver Gabriel Bortoleto and McLaren reserve Leonardo Fornaroli, but he admits he has never seen anything quite like Camara. Robinson noted that the speed is just incredible and that Camara possesses a natural feeling for tyres unlike any driver he has ever encountered. Yet, much like the last Ferrari junior to graduate to F1, Ollie Bearman, the insane speed comes with rough edges. Camara's early season was marred by costly errors, including a clumsy lunge on fellow Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic at Turn 2 in Montreal that spun him out, and a nightmare in Monaco where he lost a near-certain win after struggling on his outlap and locking up down the Turn 1 escape road while under pressure from title rival Nikola Tsolov.
Even after bouncing back with wins at Barcelona and Spa, the duality of his driving flared up again in the Madring feature race. After pulling off a remarkably bold move on Tsolov, Camara went a step too far by sending Oliver Goethe into the wall, earning himself a 10-second time penalty. Baku brought more drama when a sprint race penalty for running into the back of Aston Martin junior Mari Boya was followed by a brilliant victory in the second feature race that vaulted him back to the points lead. His fiery, unfiltered radio exchanges with race engineer Pau Rivera—who previously engineered Bortoleto and Zhou Guanyu—have also lit up highlight reels, though Camara insists it is simply the product of an honest, transparent relationship aimed at maximizing every session.
Behind the scenes, Camara has been putting in serious mileage in older machinery through Ferrari and Haas Testing of Previous Cars programmes, where teams can run pre-2026 cars for up to 20 days with race drivers limited to 1000km total mileage. That TPC running—alongside tests for drivers like Jack Doohan, Fornaroli, and reserve driver Ryo Hirakawa—helped convince Haas of his potential. When asked if Camara is ready for F1, Robinson didn't hesitate, stating he would be very, very surprised if the young Brazilian does not race in Formula 1. Camara himself feels ready for the jump, explaining that once you are inside the cockpit, you are just driving fast cars around a circuit, which is something he has been doing for quite a while.
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