Ugo Ugochukwu continued Campos Racing’s strong start to the Barcelona weekend by securing a front-row start for Sunday’s FIA Formula 3 (F3) Feature Race, finishing just behind teammate Théophile Naël in Qualifying.
Speaking in the post-Qualifying press conference, with Pit Debrief in attendance, the American reflected on a strong day for Campos Racing after narrowly missing out on pole position.
The American driver had been among the frontrunners throughout the day after Campos locked out the top three positions in Free Practice. While he ultimately missed out on pole position by a narrow margin, Ugochukwu left Qualifying encouraged by both his pace and the team’s overall performance.
“Overall, it’s been a very good weekend,” Ugochukwu said after the session.
“ Yeah, strong pace from FP and then building on that into qualifying. So of course, it’s a shame to miss out by so little. But still, front row is a really good result, and I’m sure we can score big points from here.”
Campos bringing the pace early in the 2026 F3 season
Campos Racing’s pace has been evident throughout the opening rounds of the season, with both Ugochukwu and Naël regularly fighting near the front. When asked about the team’s performance around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Ugochukwu pointed to the importance of maximising every lap on a circuit that all drivers know well.
“Yeah, for sure. I think that’s always a help,” he said when asked if his second season in Formula 3 had been beneficial.
“I think coming into this circuit is usually pretty close. Everyone knows the track pretty well. So I think really trying to maximise the lap, putting everything together in quali is super, super important.”
Despite qualifying on the front row for the Feature Race, Ugochukwu admitted Barcelona is not necessarily one of his strongest circuits, making the result from the 2026 F3 qualifying session even more satisfying.
“I wouldn’t say this is my strongest track, but definitely had to work hard, dig deep, and kind of find those last few tenths from FP to quali, and I think overall, pretty positive start to the weekend and pretty happy all in all.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s Feature Race
With a long run to Turn 1 often creating opportunities and challenges at the start of races in Barcelona, Ugochukwu says preparation will be key heading into Sunday’s Feature Race.
“Yeah, for sure,” he said when asked if he would review previous races before the weekend’s main event.
“I think it’s always good to analyse what happened in the past and what people could have done better. Of course, every situation is a little bit different, so we’ll see how the starts is, we’ll see how that plays out, and then just focus on really the race run pace, trying to manage the tyres as best as we can.”
“We will see who has the better pace overall throughout the race.”
When asked by Pit Debrief whether pace or race management would be key to winning the Feature Race, the American alluded to tyre management playing a big part.
“Tyre management is, of course, going to be important, but you need to be as quick as possible throughout the entire race,” he explained.
“So, yeah, we’ll see how it goes. Of course, my plan is to look after my tyres a bit, and then if the pace is good, try to get in the lead and pull away like I did in Melbourne.”
The 2026 F3 Championship fight
The Campos driver currently leads the FIA Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship after a strong opening phase of the season. However, he insists he is not paying too much attention to the standings at this stage of the year.
“Yes, of course, it’s good to be leading the championship,” Ugochukwu said.
“It means we had a good start to the season, and we really hit the ground running. There’s a long way to go, and I’m taking it race by race. At the moment, I’m not focusing too much on it, just trying to go out and qualify as best as I can. And that goes the same for the races. I’m going to try to win every race possible.”
Campos Racing has also been one of the stronger teams in FIA F3 in recent years, after winning the Teams’ Championship in 2025 and finishing in the top 4 in 2024.
When asked about Campos Racing’s rise to become one of Formula 3’s benchmark teams in recent years, Ugochukwu praised the atmosphere and teamwork within the Spanish outfit.
“Yeah, I agree with Théo overall,” he said.
“I think the team is working really well. The engineers are working really well together. I mean, yeah, no point really comparing to the others. We’re in quite a good place, home race as well for the team. So, I think even more motivation to have a really good weekend.”
After locking out the front row in Qualifying, Ugochukwu says Campos’ attention has already shifted towards converting their strong pace into victory on in the 2026 F3 Barcelona round Feature Race on Sunday.
“We started out perfectly. We really wanted in quali. It’s mega, and we’re going to try to finishing the job in the Feature Race.”
