Camara motivated by former teammate Antonelli's success as he heads to F1

New Haas driver Rafael Camara says he is taking motivation from the performances of his former junior rival Kimi Antonelli in Formula 1.

Camara and Antonelli were teammates in the Formula Regional European Championship in 2023, with Antonelli taking the title and moving straight up to Formula 2. Camara finished fifth overall, staying in the category to win the championship the following season as his path from Antonelli diverged, but the Brazilian says he has enjoyed seeing the Italian's success.

“It's very nice to see Kimi, what he's doing this year has been really amazing,” Camara said. “And I think on my side, for sure, it gives some motivation to keep working hard and improving myself. But I will just be trying to make the most of next year and then just learning to make sure that it's a good year.”

Camara says there has been no frustration watching Antonelli take victories and close in on the F1 title in just his second season, despite staying in the junior ranks to follow his FREC win with last year’s Formula 3 championship and to lead the F2 standings this season.

“No, I think everyone has their own time and I'm just very happy for what he did,” he said. “I think he really deserves what is happening to him – he is someone that works hard and also he's a very nice guy. So no, I think I just don't see any bad side, just a positive and hopefully one day we can be fighting together.”

Antonelli had Mercedes backing to reach F1, while Camara is a Ferrari Driver Academy member, and earned the Haas seat after an impressive testing performance in Portimao in August. The 21-year-old admits the scale of the opportunity was apparent at the time, as other drivers were getting the same opportunity to try and secured the drive.

“It was a very intense stage. You knew that it was going to be important the test and you need to deliver in a way, you need to perform these two days. It was a new track, new car and a new team. So it just about trying to get [up to speed] as quick as possible to learn everything and put in place.

“And yeah, it was also a huge amount of pressure. So I was really trying to focus and enjoy and make of the most of the moment. And I think I was happy with the job I did in the end. I was happy with myself.

“I think I did the maximum I could. And whatever was the result, I was going to still be happy because it was the maximum I could. I think when you yourself [prove that] you can do it, you can be pleased with that. So I think it was nice two days.”