The latest Brazilian prodigy eyeing a place in Formula 1 – Who is Ferrari junior Rafael Camara?

Formula 1’s silly season is in full swing, with teams working to finalise their driver line-ups for 2027 – and one name is being heavily linked with a place on next year’s grid.

Ferrari Driver Academy member Rafael Camara is hot property at the moment, with the Brazilian boasting a huge reputation after a very successful start to his single seater career.

But just who is the current Formula 2 driver and how good is he?

Early life and motorsport background

Born in Recife, Brazil, Camara comes from great racing pedigree. His grandmother, Niege Rossiter, was a pioneer in Recife motorsports during the 1960s.

But his own journey started when a friend of his father began taking his own son to the track, sparking an interest in karting, but after 18 months the son decided to stop.

At that point, aged five years old, Camara asked if he could start when he was legally allowed to at six, and his father agreed. A few months later, he was driving at Kartodromo do Tamboril.

That began a rapid rise through the ranks and, in his final season in karts, he won the 2021 WSK Champions Cup and the WSK Super Masters Series and finished second behind current F1 standings leader Kimi Antonelli in CIK-FIA European Championship.

Trophy-laden single-seater career

In 2022, Camara stepped up to single-seaters as a member of the Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy – joining the team alongside Ollie Bearman.

He placed third in the Italian and ADAC F4 championships, and second in the Formula 4 UAE championship – despite missing the first round with Covid-19.

The next season, Camara was third in the Formula Regional Middle East Championship but finished fifth in the European leg of the series.

Rather than move up to FIA Formula 3 like most around him did, the 21-year-old stayed in Formula Regional for another season. After finishing third again in the Middle East, he won seven races to take the European title.

Camara then stepped up to F3 in 2025 and added another championship to his resume, winning the crown one round early in Hungary. He ended the season with four victories, five pole positions, and with a win percentage of 20% – equalling Arvid Lindblad’s mark for the highest in competition history.

Camara graduated to F2 for this season and, after nine rounds, he is currently third in the Drivers' Championship, trailing leader Nikola Tsolov by 22 points. So far he has a grid-leading four pole positions, two of which he has converted into wins in Barcelona and Spa-Francorchamps.

What makes him so good?

The first thing that catches the eye is Camara’s raw pace. He started his F3 career with four poles in the first five rounds.

One moment that left many in his own team and in the paddock in awe came in Monaco earlier this year. He damaged his rear suspension after hitting the barrier on his first lap, leaving Invicta in a race against time to get him out on track.

Helped by a brief Red Flag he came back out and, on his second push lap, took pole position.

The Brazilian has shown a great ability to bounce back. In 2024, he missed out on victory in Imola by not managing his tyres well. At the next round, he handled them expertly to win in Barcelona.

This season, a mistake with tyre warmup in Monaco cost him the win and also put him out of the race. Again in Spain, the next weekend, he learned his lesson and made the softer compound last longer than any of his rivals to claim victory.

What do they say about him?

After Camara won the F3 title last year, Ferrari Deputy Team Principal and Head of the SFDA, Jerome D’Ambrosio, spoke of his ability to handle pressure.

“This season started strong, he managed really well in the moments where things were more tense,” he said. “He's definitely more relaxed. He seemed more relaxed than all of us. That's a trait of Rafa that I think is one of his strengths.

“It could have been easy for him to make a mistake. You could see that he was driving on the limit. He was fast, but he was under control. He chose when to push, chose when to open the gap, and that shows that he was in control.”

His TRIDENT F3 Team Manager Giacomo Ricci also added: “His overall talent is impressive. I remember in Melbourne, he didn’t know the track, of course he did the simulator, but he didn’t know the track and from the second push lap, P1 and then he did pole position in Qualifying.

“It’s like for him sometimes things come quite easy.”

Camara would argue that it has not always been easy, but his results speak to someone who is making it look that way. If he is to make it to F1, it would be one of the most accomplished rises to the top tier.