After a frustrating opening round to his 2026 FIA Formula 3 (F3) campaign in Melbourne, Matteo De Palo says he remains confident heading into Monaco, believing both he and TRIDENT have already shown the pace needed to fight at the front.
The Italian rookie endured a difficult weekend at Albert Park despite displaying impressive speed throughout the early stages of the event. De Palo had placed himself inside the top five following the opening set of push laps in Qualifying before a crash brought his session undone, ultimately leaving him at the back of the grid for both races.
The incident proved costly, with the 18-year-old leaving Australia without scoring points despite encouraging underlying pace.
Speaking ahead of last week’s in-season test in Spielberg, De Palo reflected on the disappointment of Melbourne while remaining optimistic about the potential shown by both himself and the team.
“It wasn’t a good weekend for us,” De Palo admitted. “It was going pretty well, and then we had that issue in quali that basically destroyed our weekend.”
Pace looked strong early in Melbourne
Despite the setback, the rookie took confidence from the performance level shown before the accident.
“The pace was looking really good. After the first push lap we were already in the top five and I think we could have just got better because we were still learning the track and getting up to speed.”
De Palo also highlighted the strength of the race pace shown across the weekend, even if the final results failed to reflect it.
“The pace in the races was really good, so it was a shame to not close the weekend out like we wanted, but we took the positives,” he said. “So, obviously, the pace is there, both in Quali and the race.”
Rather than dwelling on the missed opportunity in Melbourne, the TRIDENT driver says the focus now is on ensuring small mistakes do not compromise strong weekends moving forward.
“So we will be more focused on not letting something bad happen in the next race weekends that can destroy all the work that we did,” he explained. “The fact that there’s pace gives me a lot of confidence going into a really, really key part of the season now with all these rounds to come.”
The 2026 F3 Monaco weekend
Attention now turns to Monaco, one of the most demanding circuits on the Formula 3 calendar and a venue where confidence and preparation are critical. De Palo believes the extensive work completed since Melbourne has put him in a strong position heading into the 2026 F3 Monaco weekend.
“For sure we’re going to Monaco stronger,” he said. “Already we have done a lot of preparation, so let’s see how it goes. We are really confident of what we can do.”
The Italian also stressed the importance of the recent in-season test at Spielberg, particularly after such a lengthy break between race weekends.
“Of course, I haven’t been driving since Melbourne,” he continued. “So it will be really important to start really well on the first day to be up to speed. So, in Monaco, already in Free Practice, we can push.”
Away from the track, De Palo revealed he has also been heavily focused on physical preparation ahead of one of the most physically demanding weekends of the year.
“We’ve been working a lot at the gym, preparing with the documents for Monaco,” he said. “We did a lot of days in the athletic centre to prepare in gym, and we did training camps. So, for sure, it’s better than ever.”
While Melbourne ultimately failed to deliver the results he hoped for, De Palo’s confidence appears far from shaken as he prepares for the next stage of his rookie Formula 3 season.
