Ugo Ugochukwu believes the 2026 FIA Formula 3 (F3) title fight with Freddie Slater will be decided at the final race weekend of the season, with the Campos Racing driver expecting the championship fight to go “down to the wire.”
After leading the Drivers’ Championship through the opening seven rounds, Ugochukwu slipped to second in the standings following the Budapest Feature Race, where he finished behind Slater to trail the TRIDENT rookie by eight points heading into the summer break.
Despite surrendering the championship lead for the first time this season, Ugochukwu remains confident after what he described as a consistent campaign.
“I’m feeling good still,” Ugochukwu said. “It’s been a pretty consistent, straightforward year. I had scored points at every round pretty much up until Spa.
“Spa was the one weekend which didn’t really go our way. A messy qualifying as we expected and a few grid penalties didn’t help as everyone was fighting for slipstream. So it was just trying to bounce back after that one.”
Qualifying remains the key focus
While Ugochukwu has been one of the most consistent drivers on the grid this season, recent qualifying sessions have made life more difficult during the race weekends.
After qualifying inside the top four at every round to start the season, the Campos Racing driver has found himself further down the order across the last three weekends, making recovery drives a necessity rather than fighting from the front.
Looking back on that recent dip in qualifying form, Ugochukwu believes Fridays will be crucial if he is to reclaim the championship lead.
“I think we can definitely learn and take a lot of stuff from the last few weekends.
“You need to try to maximise Fridays because in F3, a good quali just makes the weekend a lot easier. So we have to look into it, and we’ll try to have a strong Fridays to put ourselves in a good position.
“Yes, Spa was very messy. We knew Budapest would be much more straightforward. So we’ll try to maximise Fridays and then see how the weekend goes.”
Ugochukwu expecting the 2026 F3 title fight to go the distance
Ugochukwu and Slater have become familiar rivals throughout 2026, having battled for the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy (CTFROT) before taking their fight into FIA Formula 3.
Although Slater now holds the advantage with two rounds remaining, Ugochukwu says the rivalry has pushed both drivers to improve throughout the season and expects the championship to remain undecided until Madrid.
“I think it’s good to be honest,” he said on the title fight. “It’s actually been a really enjoyable year.
“I think every weekend we push each other to be better, to be faster. I’m sure it’s going to be a really good fight to the end. Every weekend, we’re trying to score as many points as possible.
“I think we’ve got to focus on ourselves a bit, do our job and do our good performance. We’ll see where all the points add up at the end of the season.
“I’m sure it will come down to the wire anyway. The doubleheader in Madrid will make the difference, so it’s just about being in the fight going into it.
“I just need to try to perform as well as possible, to be back in the front consistently like we had been, fighting for podiums, and fighting for wins.”
