Roundup of the opening round of the 2026 F3 season in Melbourne, Australia.
F3 kicked off the new campaign down under in Melbourne as 14 returning drivers were joined by 16 rookie drivers, yet it would be experience which proved key across the weekend in contrast to the rookies.
Practice
MP Motorsport’s Mattia Colnaghi, Tuukka Taponen and Alessandro Giusti were first on track but it was PREMA’s James Wharton who set the initial benchmark lap of 1m 49.454 in the eighth minute amongst early runners.
Times soon kept tumbling until Campos’ Ugo Ugochukwu posted 1m 34.859 in the 21st minute to go fastest, but he just four minutes later lowered the benchmark to 1m 34.607 to top the session from Rodin’s Brando Badoer.
Colnaghi meanwhile brought the session to a premature end with five minutes left after his engine blew up on the start-finish straight, which brought out the red flags.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Campos | 1m 34.607 |
| 2 | Brando Badoer | Rodin | + 0.427 |
| 3 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | + 0.449 |
| 4 | Theophile Nael | Campos | + 0.463 |
| 5 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | + 0.471 |
| 6 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | + 0.524 |
| 7 | Pedro Clerot | Rodin | + 0.636 |
| 8 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | + 0.637 |
| 9 | Christian Ho | Rodin | + 0.655 |
| 10 | Louis Sharp | PREMA | + 0.728 |
| 11 | Bruno Del Pino | VAR | + 0.752 |
| 12 | Taito Kato | ART GP | + 0.780 |
| 13 | Tuukka Taponen | MP Motorsport | + 0.847 |
| 14 | Freddie Slater | Trident | + 0.849 |
| 15 | Mattia Colnaghi | MP Motorsport | + 0.888 |
| 16 | Matteo De Palo | Trident | + 0.979 |
| 17 | James Wharton | PREMA | + 1.052 |
| 18 | Jin Nakamura | Hitech GP | + 1.080 |
| 19 | Maciej Gladysz | ART GP | + 1.085 |
| 20 | Jose Garfias | PREMA | + 1.108 |
| 21 | Enzo Deligny | VAR | + 1.120 |
| 22 | Gerrard Xie | DAMS | + 1.214 |
| 23 | Kanato Le | ART GP | + 1,370 |
| 24 | Fionn McLaughlin | Hitech GP | + 1.489 |
| 25 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | + 1.632 |
| 26 | Yevan David | AIX Racing | + 1.710 |
| 27 | Michael Shin | Hitech GP | + 2.263 |
| 28 | Patrick Heuzenroeder | Campos | + 2.439 |
| 29 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | DAMS | + 2.535 |
| 30 | Fernando Barrichello | AIX Racing | + 2.603 |
Qualifying
Despite his fiery finish in practice, Colnaghi’s car received a new engine in time for him, Taponen and Giusti to lead the field out, but it was Taponen who set the initial pace of 1m 52.527 but Ugochukwu found himself quickest after the opening runs with 1m 34.208.
Red flags were however out with 20 minutes and 12 seconds left after Trident’s De Palo crashed out at Turn 10 after he lost control of the rear on entry, but not many improved on their second run after an eight-minute stoppage as Wharton improved to second behind Ugochukwu.
Nael meanwhile left it until the final minute to post 1m 34.187 to deny Ugochukwu pole position as the ex McLaren junior settled for second ahead of; Slater, Gladysz, Lacorte, Colnaghi, Kato, Wharton, Badoer, Stromsted, Deligny and Del Pino.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Theophile Nael | Campos | 1m 34.187 |
| 2 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Campos | + 0.021 |
| 3 | Freddie Slater | Trident | + 0.082 |
| 4 | Maciej Gladysz | ART GP | + 0.267 |
| 5 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | + 0.346 |
| 6 | Mattia Colnaghi | MP Motorsport | + 0.360 |
| 7 | Taito Kato | ART GP | + 0.425 |
| 8 | James Wharton | PREMA | + 0.434 |
| 9 | Brando Badoer | Rodin | + 0.438 |
| 10 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | + 0.451 |
| 11 | Enzo Deligny | VAR | + 0.457 |
| 12 | Bruno Del Pino | VAR | + 0.461 |
| 13 | Louis Sharp | PREMA | + 0.499 |
| 14 | Tuukka Taponen | MP Motorsport | + 0.554 |
| 15 | Jin Nakamura | Hitech GP | + 0.572 |
| 16 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | + 0.630 |
| 17 | Gerrard Xie | DAMS | + 0.673 |
| 18 | Fionn McLaughlin | Hitech GP | + 0.687 |
| 19 | Pedro Clerot | Rodin | + 0.692 |
| 20 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | + 0.746 |
| 21 | Christian Ho | Rodin | + 0.760 |
| 22 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | + 0.768 |
| 23 | Matteo De Palo | Trident | + 0.926 |
| 24 | Patrick Heuzenroeder | Campos | + 0.969 |
| 25 | Jose Garfias | PREMA | + 1.120 |
| 26 | Yevan David | AIX Racing | + 1.544 |
| 27 | Kanato Le | ART GP | + 1.608 |
| 28 | Michael Shin | Hitech | + 1.633 |
| 29 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | DAMS | + 1.974 |
| 30 | Fernando Barrichello | AIX Racing | + 2.295 |
Sprint Race
Del Pino led VAR teammate, Enzo Deligny from lights out whilst Badoer snuck up the inside of Stromsted to take third at the start.
Colnaghi meanwhile spun out of seventh at Turn 11 on lap 2 amidst pressure from Wharton but thankfully kept control and was able to continue last on the road.
The race however came to a premature end after Wharton nudged Sharp wide through Turn 4 and the latter on exit into Turn 5 clipped the Aussie’s right-rear tyre, which sent both drivers spinning out into the barriers at high speeds.
Despite the safety car’s deployment and subsequent red flag on lap nine, the barrier repair necessitated the race’s abandonment 21 minutes after the initial stoppage, with reduced points awarded to the top five as Del Pino took his maiden F3 victory from Deligny and Badoer on two-lap countback.
Sharp post-race was adjudged by stewards as at fault for his collision with Wharton and served a 10-second time penalty, which dropped him from eighth to 16th in the classification.
PREMA meanwhile withdrew both drivers from the feature race due to a lack of time to repair both cars and on medical advice that both drivers should rest.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Bruno Del Pino | VAR | 7 | 11m 35.440 |
| 2 | Enzo Deligny | VAR | 7 | + 1.381 |
| 3 | Brando Badoer | Rodin | 7 | + 2.712 |
| 4 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | 7 | + 3.307 |
| 5 | Taito Kato | ART GP | 7 | + 4.734 |
| 6 | Maciej Gladysz | ART GP | 7 | + 5.857 |
| 7 | James Wharton | PREMA | 7 | + 7.579 |
| 8 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Campos | 7 | + 9.562 |
| 9 | Freddie Slater | Trident | 7 | + 11.274 |
| 10 | Theophile Nael | Campos | 7 | + 12.789 |
| 11 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | 7 | + 13.160 |
| 12 | Tuukka Taponen | MP Motorsport | 7 | + 13.675 |
| 13 | Jin Nakamura | Hitech GP | 7 | + 14.282 |
| 14 | Pedro Clerot | Rodin | 7 | + 14.693 |
| 15 | Fionn McLaughlin | Hitech GP | 7 | + 16.239 |
| 16 | Louis Sharp | PREMA | 7 | + 17.743 |
| 17 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | 7 | + 18.894 |
| 18 | Christian Ho | DAMS | 7 | + 19.404 |
| 19 | Gerrard Xie | DAMS | 7 | + 20.766 |
| 20 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | 7 | + 21.740 |
| 21 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 7 | + 22.296 |
| 22 | Yevan David | AIX Racing | 7 | + 22.620 |
| 23 | Patrick Heuzenroeder | Campos | 7 | + 23.040 |
| 24 | Jose Garfias | PREMA | 7 | + 23.413 |
| 25 | Michael Shin | Hitech GP | 7 | + 23.914 |
| 26 | Matteo De Palo | Trident | 7 | + 24.652 |
| 27 | Fernando Barrichello | AIX Racing | 7 | + 25.257 |
| 28 | Kanato Le | ART GP | 7 | + 25.756 |
| 29 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | DAMS | 7 | + 26.105 |
| 30 | Mattia Colnaghi | MP Motorsport | 7 | + 30.694 |
Feature Race
At lights out, Nael led from pole position as Ugochukwu lost second off the line to Slater but repassed the Brit round the outside into Turn 9 a lap later.
Ugochukwu then caught and passed Nael for the lead on lap four with the same outside move into Turn 9 and subsequently gave his teammate a slipstream to protect against Slater, before the safety car was deployed on lap nine after Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi crashed at Turn 12 two laps earlier.
Racing resumed at the end of lap 11 and experience soon showed as Lacorte cleared Gladysz and Slater on laps 13 and 15 respectively to go third, and put DAMS on the cusp of a first F3 podium for the team.
Slater however responded two laps later to retake third with Stromsted, Kato and Del Pino following through after Lacorte made contact with Stromsted during the Dane’s overtake.
Up front, Ugochukwu led Nael who was demoted to third by Slater on lap 20 as the Brit swept round the outside of Turn 9, just before the safety car was again deployed after Shin crashed at Turn 6 which caused rear suspension damager.
Ugochukwu consequently claimed his maiden F3 victory from Slater as the pair moved to the summit of the drivers’ standings with a seven-point split between the pair, whilst Del Pino sat third and a further point behind Slater.
| Position | Driver | Team | Laps | Time |
| 1 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Campos | 23 | ..m |
| 2 | Freddie Slater | Trident | 23 | + 0.6 |
| 3 | Taito Kato | ART GP | 23 | + 2.2 |
| 4 | Bruno Del Pino | VAR | 23 | + 2.7 |
| 5 | Maciej Gladysz | ART GP | 23 | + 3.2 |
| 6 | Enzo Deligny | VAR | 23 | + 3.5 |
| 7 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | 23 | + 4.7 |
| 8 | Pedro Clerot | Rodin | 23 | + 4.9 |
| 9 | Jin Nakamura | Hitech GP | 23 | + 5.3 |
| 10 | Mattia Colnaghi | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 5.7 |
| 11 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | VAR | 23 | + 5.9 |
| 12 | Theophile Nael | Campos | 23 | + 6.2 |
| 13 | Tuukka Taponen | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 6.5 |
| 14 | Fionn McLaughlin | Hitech GP | 23 | + 6.8 |
| 15 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 23 | + 7.2 |
| 16 | Brando Badoer | Rodin | 23 | + 7.7 |
| 17 | Patrick Heuzenroeder | Campos | 23 | + 8.4 |
| 18 | Fernando Barrichello | AIX Racing | 23 | + 8.8 |
| 19 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | 23 | + 9.1 |
| 20 | Gerrard Xie | DAMS | 23 | + 9.4 |
| 21 | Yevan David | AIX Racing | 23 | + 9.9 |
| 22 | Christian Ho | Rodin | 23 | + 10.4 |
| 23 | Matteo De Palo | Trident | 22 | + 11.1 |
| 24 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | 22 | + 11.6 |
| 25 | Jose Garfias | PREMA | 22 | + 11.8 |
| RET | Michael Shin. | Hitech GP | 19 | Collision |
| RET | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | DAMS | 7 | Crash |
| RET | Kanato Le | Hitech GP | 1 | Damage |
| DNS | Louis Sharp | PREMA | 0 | Damage |
| DNS | James Wharton | PREMA | 0 | Damage |
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