2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship

Motor racing championship From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship is a motor racing championship for Formula 3 cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship is the seventeenth season of Formula 3 racing and the eighth season run under the FIA Formula 3 Championship moniker. FIA Formula 3 is an open-wheel racing category serving as the third tier of formula racing in the FIA Global Pathway. The category is run in support of selected rounds of the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship. As the championship is a spec series, all teams and drivers competing in the championship run the same car, the Dallara F3 2025.

Ugo Ugochukwu currently leads the Drivers' Championship, while his team, Campos Racing, leads the Teams' Championship.

Campos Racing entered the season as the reigning Teams' Champions, having secured their inaugural title at the final race of the 2025 season at Monza Circuit.

Entries

The following teams and drivers are scheduled to compete in the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship.[1] As the championship is a spec series, all teams compete with an identical Dallara F3 2025 chassis with a 3.4 L (207 cu in) naturally-aspirated V6 engine developed by Mecachrome.[2] All teams compete with tyres supplied by Pirelli.

More information Entrant, No. ...
Entrant No. Driver name Rounds
Spain Campos Racing 1 France Théophile Naël 1–2
2 United States Ugo Ugochukwu 1–2
3 Australia Patrick Heuzenroeder 1
Mexico Ernesto Rivera 2
Italy Trident 4 Denmark Noah Strømsted 1–2
5 United Kingdom Freddie Slater 1–2
6 Italy Matteo De Palo 1–2
Netherlands MP Motorsport 7 Argentina Mattia Colnaghi 1–2
8 Finland Tuukka Taponen 1–2
9 France Alessandro Giusti 1–2
France ART Grand Prix 10 Japan Taito Kato 1–2
11 Poland Maciej Gładysz 1–2
12 Japan Kanato Le 1–2
Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 14 Japan Hiyu Yamakoshi 1–2
15 France Enzo Deligny 1–2
16 Spain Bruno del Pino 1–2
New Zealand Rodin Motorsport 17 Brazil Pedro Clerot 1–2
18 Italy Brando Badoer 1–2
19 Singapore Christian Ho 1–2
Italy Prema Racing 20 New Zealand Louis Sharp 1–2
21 Australia James Wharton 1–2
22 Mexico José Garfias 1–2
United Kingdom Hitech 23 South Korea Michael Shin 1–2
24 Republic of Ireland Fionn McLaughlin 1–2
25 Japan Jin Nakamura 1–2
United Arab Emirates AIX Racing 26 United States Brad Benavides 1–2
Mexico Ricardo Escotto TBC
27 Sri Lanka Yevan David 1–2
28 Brazil Fernando Barrichello 1–2
France DAMS Lucas Oil 29 Italy Nicola Lacorte 1–2
30 Thailand Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi 1–2
31 China Gerrard Xie 1–2
Source:[3]
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Team changes

Hitech ended their partnership with Toyota Gazoo Racing after one season, dropping the 'TGR' moniker from its name.[citation needed]

Driver changes

Campos Racing have an all-new lineup after Nikola Tsolov, Mari Boya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak left the team, all graduating to Formula 2, with Tsolov remaining with Campos, Boya moving to Prema Racing and Inthraphuvasak joining ART Grand Prix.[4][5][6] The team signed two sophomore drivers in 2025 Macau Grand Prix winner Théophile Naël, who left Van Amersfoort Racing after finishing eighth with the team in 2025, and Ugo Ugochukwu, who left Prema Racing after ending the 2025 season 16th.[7][8] Red Bull Junior driver Ernesto Rivera completed Campos' lineup on his graduation from their Eurocup-3 outfit.[9]

Reigning champion Rafael Câmara stepped up to Formula 2 with Invicta Racing, while Charlie Wurz left the series to compete in Super Formula with Team Goh.[10][11] The team signed FRECA champion Freddie Slater and promoted runner-up Matteo De Palo for their full-season debut after Slater already deputised for two rounds for AIX Racing and Hitech in 2025.[12][13]

Both Bruno del Pino and Tim Tramnitz left MP Motorsport, with Del Pino joining Van Amersfoort Racing, and Tramnitz moving to GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup with ROWE Racing.[14][15] To replace them, the team signed reigning Eurocup-3 champion Mattia Colnaghi, who also joined the Red Bull Junior Team, as well as Ferrari junior driver Tuukka Taponen, who departed ART Grand Prix after coming ninth in 2025.[16][17][18]

ART Grand Prix reset their lineup as Tuukka Taponen joined MP Motorsport, James Wharton joined Prema Racing and Laurens van Hoepen moved to Formula 2 with Trident.[18][19][20] The team signed Eurocup-3 winter series champion Maciej Gładysz, who finished tenth in Eurocup-3, and promoted 2024 French F4 Champion Taito Kato and Kanato Le from their FRECA outfit, where they finished the 2025 season in seventh and 14th, respectively.[21][22][23]

Van Amersfoort Racing have an all-new line-up, as Théophile Naël moved to Campos Racing while Santiago Ramos and Ivan Domingues left the team.[7] VAR promoted Hiyu Yamakoshi from its FRECA outfit, who finished ninth, and signed Bruno del Pino, who left MP Motorsport after finishing the 2025 season in 23rd.[14] In September 2025 it was announced that Jesse Carrasquedo Jr., who deputised for Hitech for two rounds in 2025, would drive for the team in 2026.[24][25] However, he vacated his seat indefinitely for personal reasons ahead of the start of the season, and was replaced by Enzo Deligny, who finished third with R-ace GP.[26]

Rodin Motorsport also have three new drivers with Louis Sharp moving to Prema, Callum Voisin competing in Porsche Carrera Cup GB with Century Motorsport and Roman Bilinski graduating to Formula 2 with DAMS.[27][28][29] The team signed Brando Badoer, who in turn left Prema after finishing his debut season with the team in 25th, 2024 Eurocup-3 champion Christian Ho, who departed DAMS after coming 22nd in 2025, and Pedro Clerot will graduate from FRECA, where he finished fourth with Van Amersfoort Racing.[30][31][32]

Brando Badoer, Ugo Ugochukwu, and Noel León all left Prema Racing as Badoer and Ugochukwu moved to Rodin Motorsport and Campos Racing respectively, while León stepped up to Formula 2 with Campos Racing.[30][8][33] James Wharton returned to Prema, departing ART Grand Prix after finishing his full-time debut season in 18th.[19] 2024 GB3 Champion Louis Sharp joined Prema for his sophomore season after a 26th place with Rodin Motorsport in 2025.[27] The team initially signed Enzo Deligny, but he left the team ahead of the start of the season to join Van Amersfoort Racing instead.[34][26] The seat was taken by José Garfias, who finished fourth in Euroformula Open with Motopark, and made a one-round appearance last year with AIX Racing.[35]

Hitech also renewed their lineup after Martinius Stenshorne stepped up to Formula 2 with Rodin Motorsport, Gerrard Xie moved to DAMS and none of the team's four part-time competitors returned.[36] Hitech signed a returnee and two championship debutants: Genesis Magma Racing's Trajectory Program driver Michael Shin who made his FIA F3 debut in 2023 with PHM Racing by Charouz and has since been competing in Euroformula Open with Team Motopark where he finished 3rd, TGR protégé Jin Nakamura stepped up from FRECA, where he finished 10th with R-ace GP, and Red Bull junior Fionn McLaughlin entered FIA F3 after winning the 2025 F4 British Championship with Hitech's outfit.[37][38][39][40]

AIX Racing have two new drivers as neither James Hedley nor Nicola Marinangeli returned to the team. To replace them, AIX signed two Euroformula Open graduates: Yevan David, the series runner-up who became the first Sri Lankan driver to compete in FIA Formula 3, and 7th placed Fernando Barrichello, who already deputised for Hedley at the team in the last round of the 2025 season.[41][42]

DAMS Lucas Oil saw Christian Ho join Rodin Motorsport and Matías Zagazeta leave the series to compete in GT World Challenge Europe with AF Corse.[31][43] To replace them, the team signed Thai driver Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi from FRECA, where he finished 16th with Trident,[44] and Gerrard Xie, who joined the team after finishing last season in 29th driving for Hitech.[45]

In-season changes

Ernesto Rivera suffered a vertebral injury while competing in Formula Regional Oceania earlier this year, which meant that he was unable to compete at the opening round in Melbourne. He was replaced by Eurocup-3 competitor and FIA F3 debutant Patrick Heuzenroeder, who already deputised for Rivera in pre-season testing.[46]

Brad Benavides sustained injuries following a crash in the sprint race of the Monte Carlo round, which would see him take a break from racing.[47] Indy NXT driver Ricardo Escotto replaced him for the round at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.[48]

Race calendar

More information Round, Circuit ...
Round Circuit Sprint race Feature race
1 Australia Albert Park Circuit, Melbourne 7 March 8 March
2 Monaco Circuit de Monaco, Monaco 6 June 7 June
3 Spain Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Montmeló 13 June 14 June
4 Austria Red Bull Ring, Spielberg 27 June 28 June
5 United Kingdom Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone 4 July 5 July
6 Belgium Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot 18 July 19 July
7 Hungary Hungaroring, Mogyoród 25 July 26 July
8 Italy Monza Circuit, Monza 5 September 6 September
9 Spain Madring, Madrid 12 September 13 September
Source:[49]
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Calendar changes

Season report

Round 1: Australia

The season began at Albert Park Circuit with a Campos Racing one-two in qualifying; Théophile Naël on pole position, Ugo Ugochukwu second and Trident's Freddie Slater third. Bruno del Pino started the reverse-grid sprint race from pole position by virtue of having qualified twelfth. Del Pino and second-placed Enzo Deligny held their positions at the start, whilst Noah Strømsted lost third place to Brando Badoer. On lap eight of twenty, Prema Racing teammates James Wharton and Louis Sharp collided heavily whilst battling for seventh place. The race was red-flagged and not resumed due to the damage to the barriers. The result was taken from the end of lap seven and points were only awarded to the top five finishers. Del Pino claimed his first Formula 3 victory and Deligny and Badoer achieved their first podiums in the series. Wharton and Sharp were withdrawn from the following day's feature race on medical grounds.[52]

Pole-sitter Naël maintained the lead at the start of the feature race whilst Ugochukwu lost second place to Slater. Ugochukwu soon recovered the position and then passed Naël for first place on lap four. Nicola Lacorte briefly entered the podium positions after overtaking Slater, but soon dropped back and was then involved in a collision with Strømsted, for which Strømsted received a penalty. A crash by Michael Shin on lap twenty brought out the safety car, which stayed out until the end of the race. Further penalties were issued in the closing laps, with Naël and Lacorte both receiving penalties for false starts. Ugochukwu took his first Formula 3 victory and was joined on the podium by Slater and Taito Kato, who had originally crossed the finish line in fifth but was promoted by the penalties for Naël and Strømsted. Ugochukwu's win placed him in the lead of the championship by seven points ahead of second-placed Del Pino.

Results and standings

Season summary

Scoring system

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers in both races.[e] The pole-sitter in the feature race also receives two points, and one point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap in both the feature and sprint races, provided that driver finished inside the top ten. If the driver who set the fastest lap is classified outside the top ten, the point is given to the driver who set the fastest lap of those inside the top ten. No extra points are awarded to the pole-sitter in the sprint race as the grid for it is set by reversing the top twelve qualifiers.

Sprint race points

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. A bonus point is awarded to the driver who set the fastest lap and finished in the top ten.[54]

More information Position, Points ...
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   FL 
Points 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 1
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Feature race points

Points are awarded to the top ten classified finishers. Bonus points are awarded to the pole-sitter and to the driver who set the fastest lap and finished in the top ten.

More information Position, Points ...
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   Pole   FL 
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1 2 1
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Drivers' Championship standings

More information Pos., Driver ...
Pos. Driver ALB
Australia
MON
Monaco
CAT
Spain
RBR
Austria
SIL
United Kingdom
SPA
Belgium
HUN
Hungary
MNZ
Italy
MAD
Spain
Points
SR[f] FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR
1 United States Ugo Ugochukwu 8 1 6F 4 43
2 Spain Bruno del Pino 1 4F 2 6 35
3 United Kingdom Freddie Slater 9 2 19 3F 34
4 Italy Brando Badoer 3 16 Ret 1 28
5 France Théophile Naël 10 12P 24 2P 22
6 Japan Taito Kato 5 3 16 11 16
7 Brazil Pedro Clerot 14 8 3 8 16
8 France Alessandro Giusti 21 15 4 7 13
9 Poland Maciej Gładysz 6 5 8 24 13
10 China Gerrard Xie 19 19 1 9 12
11 France Enzo Deligny 2 6 23 14 12
12 Mexico Ernesto Rivera Ret 5 10
13 Denmark Noah Strømsted 4 23 5 10 9
14 Japan Jin Nakamura 13 9 7 23 6
15 United States Brad Benavides 17 7 Ret WD 6
16 Japan Kanato Le 28 Ret 9 17 2
17 Argentina Mattia Colnaghi 30 10 11 19 1
18 Mexico José Garfias 24 24 10 15 1
19 Australia James Wharton 7 WD 15 18 0
20 Japan Hiyu Yamakoshi 20 11 DSQ 13 0
21 Italy Nicola Lacorte 11 25 22 27 0
22 Finland Tuukka Taponen 12 13 Ret Ret 0
23 New Zealand Louis Sharp 16F WD 17 12 0
24 Thailand Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi 29 Ret 12 22 0
25 Republic of Ireland Fionn McLaughlin 15 14 13 21 0
26 Italy Matteo De Palo 26 22 14 25 0
27 Singapore Christian Ho 18 21 Ret 16 0
28 Australia Patrick Heuzenroeder 23 17 0
29 Brazil Fernando Barrichello 27 18 20 Ret 0
30 South Korea Michael Shin 25 Ret 18 26 0
31 Sri Lanka Yevan David 22 20 21 20 0
Mexico Ricardo Escotto 0
Pos. Driver SR[f] FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR Points
ALB
Australia
MON
Monaco
CAT
Spain
RBR
Austria
SIL
United Kingdom
SPA
Belgium
HUN
Hungary
MNZ
Italy
MAD
Spain
Sources:[55][56]
Key
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenOther points position
Blue Other classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
PurpleNot classified, retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (empty cell)
Annotation Meaning
P Pole position
F Fastest lap

 – Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

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Teams' Championship standings

More information Pos., Team ...
Pos. Team ALB
Australia
MON
Monaco
CAT
Spain
RBR
Austria
SIL
United Kingdom
SPA
Belgium
HUN
Hungary
MNZ
Italy
MAD
Spain
Points
SR[f] FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR
1 Spain Campos Racing 8 1 6F 2P 75
10 12P 24 4
23 17 Ret 5
2 Netherlands Van Amersfoort Racing 1 4F 2 6 47
2 6 23 13
20 11 DSQ 14
3 New Zealand Rodin Motorsport 3 8 3 1 44
14 16 Ret 8
18 21 Ret 16
4 Italy Trident 4 2 5 3F 43
9 22 14 10
26 23 19 25
5 France ART Grand Prix 5 3 8 11 31
6 5 9 17
28 Ret 16 24
6 Netherlands MP Motorsport 12 10 4 7 14
21 13 11 19
30 15 Ret Ret
7 France DAMS Lucas Oil 11 19 1 9 12
19 25 12 22
29 Ret 22 27
8 United Kingdom Hitech 13 9 7 21 6
15 14 13 23
25 Ret 18 26
9 United Arab Emirates AIX Racing 17 7 20 20 6
22 18 21 Ret
27 20 Ret WD
10 Italy Prema Racing 7 24 10 12 1
16F WD 15 15
24 WD 17 18
Pos. Team SR[f] FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR SR FR Points
ALB
Australia
MON
Monaco
CAT
Spain
RBR
Austria
SIL
United Kingdom
SPA
Belgium
HUN
Hungary
MNZ
Italy
MAD
Spain
Sources:[57][56]
Key
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenOther points position
Blue Other classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
PurpleNot classified, retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (empty cell)
Annotation Meaning
P Pole position
F Fastest lap

 – Driver did not finish the race, but was classified as he completed more than 90% of the race distance.

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The standings are sorted by best result; the rows are not related to the drivers. In case of a tie on points, the best positions achieved determined the outcome.

Notes

  1. Louis Sharp set the fastest lap and would have scored the point for it, but later received a ten-second time penalty for causing a collision. This dropped him out of the top ten, making him ineligible to score the point. James Wharton would have scored the point for setting the fastest lap among those finishing in the top ten, but as less than 50% of the scheduled race distance was completed, he was not awarded the point for it.
  2. James Wharton set the fastest lap but did not finish in the top ten, so he was ineligible to score the point for it. Ugo Ugochukwu scored the point for setting the fastest lap among those finishing in the top ten.
  3. Hiyu Yamakoshi originally won the race, but was later disqualified as the front push rods of his car were mounted incorrectly. Gerrard Xie, initially classified second, inherited the win.
  4. James Wharton set the fastest lap but did not finish in the top ten, so he was ineligible to score the point for it. Freddie Slater scored the point for setting the fastest lap among those finishing in the top ten.
  5. In the event of a race ending prematurely, the number of points-paying positions may be reduced, depending on how much of the race has been completed.
  6. As more than 25% but less than 50% of the scheduled race distance was completed, reduced points were awarded on a 5–4–3–2–1 basis to the top five finishers. Additionally, as less than 50% of the scheduled race distance was completed, no points were awarded for the fastest lap of the race.

References

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