Ugo Ugochukwu retained the lead of the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Drivers’ Championship after a dramatic F3 Sprint Race at the Belgian GP.
The Campos Racing driver failed to score after first-lap contact with title rival Freddie Slater damaged his suspension. Slater retired from the race, so the pair remained on 104 and 86 points respectively.
Meanwhile, Jin Nakamura claimed his maiden F3 victory and earned the fastest-lap point to add 11 points to his total. Brando Badoer and Pedro Clerot completed a Rodin Motorsport double podium, which moved both drivers further up the standings.
The final classification also accounted for James Wharton’s four track-limits penalties and Matteo De Palo’s two separate 10-second sanctions. Those decisions dropped Wharton to 27th and De Palo to 28th, although neither driver had occupied a points-paying position before the penalties.
Ugochukwu retains 2026 F3 Championship lead after Slater clash
Ugochukwu entered the Belgian weekend with an 18-point advantage over Slater.
However, both championship leaders left the Sprint Race without adding to their totals. They made contact at Les Combes on the opening lap after Slater attempted to move alongside the Campos Racing driver.
Slater retired immediately, while Ugochukwu returned to the pits with suspension damage. Campos repaired his car, but he rejoined one lap behind and finished 29th.
Consequently, Ugochukwu remains on 104 points, while Slater stays second on 86. The gap between them therefore remains at 18 points ahead of Sunday’s Feature Race, where Slater will start from pole position.
Naël strengthens third place with five points
Théophile Naël strengthened his hold on third place by finishing sixth in the Sprint Race.
The Campos Racing driver briefly moved ahead of Taito Kato during the second half of the contest. However, Kato reclaimed fifth during the late restart, leaving Naël to collect five points.
Naël increased his total from 60 to 65 and reduced his deficit to Slater from 26 to 21 points.
Meanwhile, Noah Strømsted claimed the final point in 10th place. The TRIDENT driver moved to 58 points and remains fourth, seven behind Naël.
Badoer rises to fifth after Spa podium
Badoer made the largest move among the leading championship contenders after finishing second.
The Rodin Motorsport driver started from reverse-grid pole and led the early stages before Nakamura overtook him at Les Combes following the first Safety Car restart.
Badoer remained close to the Hitech driver and resisted pressure from teammate Clerot to secure nine points. He increased his championship total to 50 and climbed from seventh to fifth.
As a result, Badoer now sits eight points behind Strømsted and one point ahead of Bruno Del Pino.
Clerot moves ahead of Gładysz after third place
Clerot completed Rodin Motorsport’s double podium by finishing third.
The Frenchman challenged Badoer during the middle phase of the race but could not move ahead of his teammate. Nevertheless, he added eight points and increased his championship total to 48.
Clerot climbed to seventh in the standings, moving ahead of Maciej Gładysz, who remains on 44 points after finishing 12th.
Del Pino dropped from fifth to sixth after failing to score. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver holds 49 points, one ahead of Clerot and five ahead of Gładysz.
Kato draws level with Yamakoshi
Kato finished fifth for ART Grand Prix and collected six points.
The Japanese driver lost a position to Naël during the race but recovered it during the final restart. He therefore moved from 30 to 36 points.
Kato now shares that total with Hiyu Yamakoshi. However, Yamakoshi retains ninth place on countback, while Kato remains 10th.
Yamakoshi failed to score after contact with Mattia Colnaghi and a subsequent penalty left him 26th in the final classification.
Nakamura jumps to 11th after maiden victory
Nakamura produced the biggest points haul of the Sprint Race by claiming victory and the fastest lap.
The Hitech driver initially lost reverse-grid pole through a post-Qualifying penalty and started fourth. However, he passed Clerot at the start before overtaking Badoer following the first Safety Car period.
Nakamura survived pressure during the final restart and crossed the line 0.978 seconds ahead of Badoer. He also set the fastest eligible lap on the final tour.
The 11-point haul moved Nakamura from 24 to 35 points and lifted him from 13th to 11th in the Drivers’ Championship. He now sits one point behind both Yamakoshi and Kato.
Rivera, Taponen and Colnaghi add important points
Ernesto Rivera added three points by finishing eighth for Campos Racing. He moved to 31 points but dropped to 12th because Nakamura climbed ahead of him.
Tuukka Taponen collected four points in seventh and increased his total to 22. The MP Motorsport driver moved ahead of Gerrard Xie and Wharton into 14th place.
Colnaghi also made significant progress after finishing fourth. He scored seven points and moved from one to eight, lifting him from 25th to 21st in the championship.
Alessandro Giusti completed a strong Sprint Race for MP Motorsport by finishing ninth. He added two points and drew level with Yevan David on 15.
2026 F3 Drivers’ Championship standings after the Belgian GP Sprint Race
- Ugo Ugochukwu — 104 points
- Freddie Slater — 86 points
- Théophile Naël — 65 points
- Noah Strømsted — 58 points
- Brando Badoer — 50 points
- Bruno Del Pino — 49 points
- Pedro Clerot — 48 points
- Maciej Gładysz — 44 points
- Hiyu Yamakoshi — 36 points
- Taito Kato — 36 points
- Jin Nakamura — 35 points
- Ernesto Rivera — 31 points
- Enzo Deligny — 28 points
- Tuukka Taponen — 22 points
- Gerrard Xie — 20 points
- James Wharton — 19 points
- Louis Sharp — 17 points
- Yevan David — 15 points
- Alessandro Giusti — 15 points
- Kanato Le — 11 points
- Mattia Colnaghi — 8 points
- Matteo De Palo — 7 points
- Brad Benavides — 6 points
- Nicola Lacorte — 2 points
- Fionn McLaughlin — 2 points
- José Garfias — 1 point
- Christian Ho — 0 points
- Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi — 0 points
- Fernando Barrichello — 0 points
- Patrick Heuzenroeder — 0 points
- Woohyun Shin — 0 points
- Salim Hanna — 0 points
- Ricardo Escotto — 0 points.
Ugochukwu leads Slater by 18 points, while Naël sits another 21 behind in third. Only nine points separate Strømsted in fourth and Clerot in seventh, while Nakamura’s victory moved him to within one point of the drivers tied for ninth.
Campos Racing extends Teams’ Championship advantage
Campos Racing increased its Teams’ Championship lead despite Ugochukwu’s failure to score.
Naël earned five points and Rivera added three, taking Campos from 192 to 200 points.
TRIDENT collected only one point through Strømsted after Slater retired and De Palo finished outside the top 10. The team moved to 151 points.
Consequently, Campos extended its advantage over TRIDENT from 42 to 49 points. Van Amersfoort Racing remains third on 113 after all three of its drivers missed the points.
Rodin jumps to fourth after double podium
Rodin Motorsport recorded the largest team score of the Sprint Race.
Badoer collected nine points for second, while Clerot added eight for third. Christian Ho finished 11th and narrowly missed the points.
The 17-point haul moved Rodin to 98 points and lifted the team from fifth to fourth, seven ahead of ART Grand Prix.
Rodin also reduced its deficit to third-placed Van Amersfoort Racing to 15 points.
ART Grand Prix remains fifth as MP Motorsport climbs
Kato provided ART Grand Prix’s only points by finishing fifth.
His six-point contribution moved the team from 85 to 91 points. However, Rodin’s double podium pushed ART back to fifth.
MP Motorsport scored with all three drivers. Colnaghi earned seven points, Taponen added four and Giusti collected two.
Their combined 13-point haul moved MP Motorsport from 32 to 45 points and lifted it ahead of PREMA Racing into sixth.
Hitech moves level with PREMA after Nakamura victory
Nakamura’s victory and fastest lap gave Hitech 11 points.
The team increased its total from 26 to 37 and drew level with PREMA Racing. However, Hitech moved ahead on countback because Nakamura secured the team’s first victory of the season.
PREMA failed to score after Sharp finished 13th, while penalties dropped Wharton to 27th. José Garfias completed the race in 19th.
DAMS Lucas Oil and AIX Racing also remained on 22 and 21 points respectively after missing the top 10.
2026 F3 Teams’ Championship standings after the Belgian GP Sprint Race
- Campos Racing — 200 points
- TRIDENT — 151 points
- Van Amersfoort Racing — 113 points
- Rodin Motorsport — 98 points
- ART Grand Prix — 91 points
- MP Motorsport — 45 points
- Hitech — 37 points
- PREMA Racing — 37 points
- DAMS Lucas Oil — 22 points
- AIX Racing — 21 points.
Campos Racing now leads TRIDENT by 49 points. Rodin Motorsport’s double podium moved it into fourth and within 15 points of Van Amersfoort Racing, while MP Motorsport climbed to sixth after all three drivers scored.
