Campos Racing 2024 Review: A bittersweet season

Adrián Campos Jr says the Championship Standings does not represent the performance of his Campos Racing team, admitting that his team fell short of their own expectations in 2024.
For the second consecutive campaign, the Spanish outfit finished fourth in the Teams’ Standings and scored 179 points, but Campos Jr is convinced they could have achieved better.
Trident 2024 Review: An incredible ending

“Let’s say that it was a decent season for us,” started the Campos Racing Team Principal. “Maybe at the beginning of the year we had higher expectations, because looking at how everything was going during testing, we were hoping to be contending for the Championship more.
“Oliver Goethe did still have a chance at the last round before moving to Formula 2, but we were hoping to be a bit higher, top three at least in the Teams’ Standings.
“I think that our position in the Championship doesn’t reflect our performance, we have more performance than what we saw, that’s my feeling and that was my feeling almost every race weekend.
“Everything was going okay in Free Practice and then when we go to Qualifying something happens, track limits, Red Flags, all these kinds of things and at the end they compromise your whole weekend. I think that’s the biggest thing to say, better performance than results.”
But Campos Jr was still able to find the positives, and highlighted the continued improvement his team have shown each year and how they raised their level in a “very tough Championship”.
“The team is performing very well,” he said. “Our results are getting better every year but when we see that this year it could have been a lot better and it wasn’t, it’s a bittersweet feeling.
AIX Racing 2024 Review: A difficult but rewarding season

“Anyway, I think that we need to accept this year, and how it was. Formula 3 is a very tough Championship with 30 cars in the field and anything can happen in Qualifying. We need to accept it, keep moving forward and keep working.”
The Campos boss also spoke glowingly of his three drives starting with Goethe. The German had a strong campaign finishing seventh in the Drivers’ Championship having had an outside shot at the title before moving up to Formula 2 at Monza.
His consistency, especially, in the first part of the season where he scored points in the first 12 races impressed Campos Jr.
“With Ollie we knew that in the race he was doing a very good job,” he explained. “He was always fighting and moving forward, even starting in the front. He was very consistent, mainly in the first part of the year, scoring points in every race.”
Goethe’s teammates Mari Boya and Sebastián Montoya may not have had the results he did, finishing 15th and 17th respectively in the Standings, but they also impressed the team boss.
“Sebastián and Mari, they were struggling in Qualifying,” continued Campos Jr. “There was always something happening, taking out their laps for track limits, finding traffic, Red Flags, yellow flags, all these things that didn’t allow them to start in these positions.
Van Amersfoort Racing 2024 Review: A season of ups and downs but plenty of positives
“But they were both moving forward, starting at the back, they put on some good shows. I think Mari managed to finish in the points a few times starting behind P25 and Sebastián also did some very good recoveries.
“So that was the main thing during the year, and at the end we managed with Sebastián to qualify a bit better, start the races from the front spots and he was fighting for the podium in every race.”
Campos Jr also picked out a few highlights including Goethe’s Imola weekend where he did not leave the podium.
“I think in Formula 3 the best weekend was in Imola for Ollie when he won the Sprint and finished P2 in the Feature,” he said.
“He was showing strong potential there, also the other two drivers but they struggled in Qualifying and they didn’t manage to start in the front like Ollie, but we were strong that weekend. I think that was the best one.
In Profile: Mari Boya
“Also, some other moments to highlight were when after a very tough beginning of the season for Sebastián he finally made his step, working very hard during the year and by mid-to-the-end of the season he was already there, fighting for the top spots.
“He was quick in the races but struggled to put the lap together in Qualifying. At the end he managed to start in the front and get on the podium, so happy for him. Also, we need to mention Mari’s win at his home race, I am very happy about that also.”