As the 2026 FIA Formula 3 (F3) season heads towards the iconic streets of Monte Carlo for the Monaco GP Round, championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu remains firmly focused on extending his advantage at the top of the standings. The Campos Racing driver has quickly established himself as one of the standout performers of the season so far, but away from the cockpit, the American youngster keeps life relatively simple.
Life away from the track
Despite stepping away from the track between rounds, especially during the 2026 F3 break between Melbourne and Monaco, Ugochukwu admitted motorsport is never too far from his mind.
“I’d say I do a lot of the same things at home that I do at the track. I think your mind goes away from racing, but not fully.“
The American driver revealed that much of his downtime still revolves around preparation, whether that be simulator sessions or training in the gym, although he also enjoys spending time with friends playing other sports.
“I still like to do some work on the sim, some training, and then I just chill. There’s not much to it. I like sports in general, so I play quite a bit of football and tennis with all my mates.”
“Some people play golf every day, but I don’t really have a hobby that I like as much as racing.”
Physical preparation also remains a major focus throughout the year, with the American explaining that his gym routine changes depending on the race calendar.
“With training in the gym, it depends, but definitely at least two, three times a week, and then it just depends on racing. Obviously on race week, way less, because you’re already travelling on a Wednesday. But on the time off, I’d say probably around three times.”
Different sports on the horizon
Away from motorsport, Ugochukwu enjoys a range of sports, although he was quick to joke that a professional career in any of them was never likely.
“I think I’m probably not good enough in football to have gone pro. Just not good enough. My brother plays football, he’s better than me, so I think I chose the right sport.”
“I’m not good enough at tennis either. In basketball I’ve got the proportions. I can jump, just don’t ask me to stand behind the three-point line.”
“I can dunk pretty easily, but it’s always, ‘If I was your height, I’d be in the NBA’.”
Ugochukwu’s family support
Ugochukwu also reflected on the support he receives from his family throughout the season, with much of his time split between the United States and Italy due to his racing commitments.
“My family support me quite a lot with racing. Most of the time they’re out here watching and they’ll be with me between the US and Italy.”
Although New York remains home, the demands of European racing mean he now spends much of his year based in Italy.
“Obviously, I spend more time in Italy just because for the racing it’s where I need to be in the off-season, I do go back as well and spend time in New York.”
F3 race weekends
Race weekends themselves, however, are usually all business. While flyaway events such as Melbourne offer F3 drivers more time to explore and adapt to the time zone, Ugochukwu explained that the European portion of the 2026 calendar becomes far more intense.
“I keep it fairly simple on race weekends. But it honestly depends because we have some weekends like Melbourne where we’re there for a little bit longer. So there’s definitely more time to do stuff.”
“You get there like maybe the Sunday before just to get into the time zone. So then there’s definitely a few more things to do, but these European races are just kind of straight to business and you want to get to the hotel and get to bed as early as possible.”
With the calendar becoming increasingly demanding throughout the European season, Ugochukwu admitted it can be difficult to fully switch off mentally.
“It’s not always possible to switch off because but I feel like it depends on what point you are in the season. But for me you’re always thinking about the next thing to come.”
“So it’s not the easiest. I think our calendar is a bit more chill at the start of the year. So there’s actually quite a bit of a break, but I think once you get to Europe, it’s back-to-back every other week.”
“So I think you’re just, you’re just fully focused on that till August. In the summer I think just go on holiday and then you can switch off properly. But I think in that phase, you’re just always thinking about racing and more racing.”
