Ugo Ugochukwu secured his maiden Formula 3 (F3) victory in the Feature Race at the Australian GP after a dominant weekend at the Albert Park Circuit.
The FIA Formula 3 Championship driver set the tone early, topping Free Practice by more than four tenths of a second before carrying that strong form through the remainder of the weekend to secure victory for Campos Racing.
Speaking after the race on Sunday in Melbourne, Ugochukwu described his maiden F3 victory at the Australian GP as a special moment, but insisted he is remaining grounded despite taking an early-season win.
“It’s a mega feeling, super happy to get my first win and a really special place to do it as well in Melbourne,” Ugochukwu said. “I’ve really enjoyed the track ever since the first lap in Practice. I really wanted to get the win.”
“The start was very, very sketchy into T1. I thought we may have crashed there. I decided to not take any risk and just fall back to P3.”
“But then pace throughout the first part of the race was really good. So I managed to make pretty easy moves and from there I could manage it pretty well. So it was the perfect start to the season really. But we’ve got to stay focused, keep pushing. There’s a long way to go and I’ll just take it race-by-race.”
A difficult start for Ugochukwu
Despite dropping positions at the start, Ugochukwu explained that the decision to back out of the early fight ultimately helped him manage the race better over the long run.
Lining up on the front row alongside team-mate Théophile Naël, who started from pole, Ugochukwu initially slipped back in the opening moments. However, confident in his pace, he focused on staying out of trouble before working his way back through the field.
“It doesn’t matter if I lose a position, I just make sure we can race. I had a decent start, Théo came down to defend from me into T1. And then as I went left, I realised Freddie had an even better start. So, I found myself in the middle of the two.”
“It wasn’t worth risking a crash first lap of the 23-lap Feature Race. So, it was a good decision to back off and fall into P3 and make my way through later on in the race.”
“I think it was a game of trying to make sure your tyres were in good condition for the end. But at the same time, be as quick as possible at the beginning. And I felt I was in a position where my pace was good enough to save the tyres and go for the move without sliding too much.”
“I decided to take the lead and manage it from there. And it’s always a bit nicer in clean air as well. You can focus on your tyres a bit more.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the 2026 F3 season
Looking ahead to the remainder of the 2026 season, Ugochukwu emphasised the importance of consistency rather than solely chasing victories.
Instead, the American driver believes strong results across both good and difficult weekends will be key to mounting a championship challenge.
“I think hitting the ground running is super important. I think it just puts us in a good position going for the rest of the championship.”
“We know now that in the bad weekends, we need to pick up the points and try to get a few more wins along the way. And we’ll see where we end up. I’m sure we’re going to be up there fighting for the Championship.”
