Roman Biliński made history for Poland in the F3 Sprint Race at the Australian Grand Prix as the first Polish driver to stand on the podium since F3’s inception in 2019.
Beyond the significance of the podium for Poland, the result is a show of Biliński’s determination and perseverance after an injury in 2024.
Biliński started third in the Melbourne F3 Sprint Race under reverse-grid conditions and avoided the chaos behind him to take a maiden podium. Unfortunately, due to safety cars, the Polish driver missed out on an opportunity to challenge for the win.
Ahead of the 2025 season, Roman Biliński announced that he would move up to Formula 3 with Rodin Motorsport for the upcoming year. Like many of the rookies in the current F3 grid, Biliński spent the last few years finding his footing in the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA).
In 2024, Biliński had a strong start to the FRECA season with a second place finish at Spa-Francorchamps. However, before Zandvoort, the Polish-Brit suffered a severe road accident where he broke multiple vertebrae. Needing surgery, he missed four rounds of the 2024 FRECA season as he focused on the arduous recovery journey.
But he was determined to get back on track and he returned to FRECA for Imola, and achieved six points finishes in eight races. He ended the season in 15th with 52 points.
When talking with the media about what a debut podium meant for the Polish driver. He admitted, “The confidence is definitely high right now, after getting the podium. It was a difficult last year, having the accident and everything like this, but to bounce back and now be here I think is a strong debut.”
2025 expectations
The Formula 3 grid is due to be incredibly competitive in 2025, with a host of champions from various series’ looking to take the title. Biliński is no different. Although he was happy with the podium in Australia he intends to make it to the top step this season.
He said, “I mean, I’d hope I’d be winning, to be honest. But no, for sure, it’s a very good start.”
Biliński admitted that the possibility of a maiden victory was within reach for the Sprint Race. Saying, “Ideally, I’d want to get the other two, but I was trying to manage on the laps before the safety car, just try and stay in the DRS train, not use the tyres too much and hopefully at the end go for the move. But unfortunately with the safety car, that made it difficult.”
2025 also sees F3 introduce a new car. This poses a unique opportunity for the drivers on the grid as the gap between rookies and veterans is closed. Biliński tested the old machinery in a post-season test last year and noted the difference between the cars and confessed that the change is ‘good for [him]’.
Biliński also admitted one of the biggest adjustments for him was the tyre management but luckily everyone was in a similar position.
“The tyres are a big thing. Managing this is really something I’ve had to do so much of before. So like [Santiago Ramos and Martinius Stenshorne] said, it’s learning this, but I guess it’s also a bit new for everyone, which I guess is quite handy for me.”
Season progression
Biliński ended the Australian Grand Prix weekend with a second points finish in the difficult conditions of the Feature Race. He acknowledged that some tracks will pose more difficulty than others, but you just have to ‘get on with it’.
“And you know, it’s going to be a bit difficult going to a couple of tracks, I don’t know, but it’s part of racing. You just have to get on with it, learn and do it.”
Consistent weekends have been key to driver’s success in the past season of F3, with adjustment time often not a luxury in F3. Getting up to speed quickly is vital for success in the feeder series’ and Biliński will be loooking to repeat the results of the weekend in Bahrain.
