Théophile Naël believes his second FIA Formula 3 (F3) victory of the season came down to managing his tyres and taking the opportunity when it presented itself in the 2026 Budapest Sprint Race.
The Campos Racing driver started sixth on the grid but moved into second during the chaotic opening lap before eventually passing Kanato Le for the lead on Lap 9.
From there, Naël was able to build a gap at the front and secured his second victory of the season, with teammate Ernesto Rivera completing the podium in third.
Speaking after the race in the F3 press conference, with Pit Debrief in attendance, Naël admitted he had been forced to manage front tyre graining throughout the Sprint, but felt he had done enough to preserve his tyres before pushing in the closing stages.
“Yeah, it feels really good. I mean, obviously starting from P6, this victory is, yeah, feels good. The pace was really good, struggling a bit with the front tyres, some graining, but I think that was the same for the whole field.
“So yeah, tricky to manage the tyres, but in the end, I think I did it well and I managed to push quite hard the two last laps as well and to create a gap. So yeah, well managed.
Naël: “extremely happy” with Budapest Sprint victory
Naël had initially followed Le closely before building his attack for the lead, with the Campos Racing driver explaining that the team had not necessarily expected to be leading the race after setting the car up for a different strategy.
“Yeah, I mean, we set up the car to be in the third chair today, so the plan wasn’t to be leading, to be honest, but I mean, from P2, the pace was really good, managed to stay close to Kanato and then I built my overtake.
“So yeah, extremely happy. Struggling a bit more when I was leading at the beginning with the car, but at the end, the balance was good.
With the Feature Race set to be longer than Saturday’s Sprint, Naël was also able to take plenty of lessons from the opening race of the weekend.
The Campos Racing driver highlighted his strong start and tyre management as two key areas to focus on ahead of Sunday’s Feature Race.
“Yeah, I think a lot. I learned a lot. I mean, obviously the start was really good, so I need to have a look why and try to replicate it for tomorrow.
“So that would be the main goal. And then tyre saving once again. We had no Safety Car today, but looking at the pace today I’m looking forward to tomorrow.
Tyre management in the Sprint
With the Hungaroring making it difficult to follow another car for an extended period of time, Pit Debrief asked Naël how important it was to make a move when the opportunity presented itself in the F3 Budapest Sprint, rather than waiting until the closing stages of the race.
The Campos Racing driver explained that front tyre graining can arrive quickly when following another car, meaning that drivers need to carefully balance attacking with preserving their tyres.
“Yeah, for me, once you are behind, the graining is coming super early on the front. So it’s really important to take it easy with that. And then if we have the opportunity to overtake, we have to take it. And if not, it’s better to wait a bit and to prepare for the end of the race.
“For me today, I had the opportunity so I went for it. But if I hadn’t, I would just stay behind, stay calm and preserve the front tyres.”
Tyre degradation is expected to play an even bigger role in Sunday’s Feature Race, with the longer distance likely to test the field further.
However, Naël believes Campos Racing can still find more performance from its set-up ahead of the race, with the team set to start all three cars inside the top eight.
“Like Ernesto said, I think we still have some potential to find in the set-up for tomorrow. So that’s a good sign.
“Starting from P6, P7 and P8, the Campos car, the main point would be to have a clean start for all of us. To not disrupt, to not have contact, to stay on track and to push each other to the top for the end of the race and maximise points.”
Approach remains unchanged
Naël’s F3 Budapest Sprint victory came after a difficult run of results in recent rounds, but the Campos Racing driver insists that his approach has remained unchanged.
With overtaking expected to be difficult around the Hungaroring, he believes a strong start could again be crucial to his chances of fighting at the front.
“My mindset is the same as it was today. To have a great start. That’s the main priority because we know that we cannot overtake that much in this track.
“So a good start and then see from them. Then managing tyres, taking the opportunities when it’s possible. And I think if there is no safety car, with five laps more, it will be a very interesting end of race. So yeah, looking forward.”
