José Garfias entered his first full FIA Formula 3 season with considerable experience behind him and one of the championship’s most successful teams around him. However, Garfias struggled to translate either into results during a difficult 2026 F3 campaign with PREMA Racing.
Garfias had already sampled F3 machinery during a one-off appearance in Barcelona in 2025 and arrived from a strong Euroformula Open campaign. Nevertheless, his transition proved difficult as PREMA also struggled to recapture the form that once made it the benchmark in F3.
Ultimately, Garfias scored just one point and finished 29th in the Drivers’ Championship.
Garfias steps up to 2026 F3 campaign with experience behind him
Although 2026 marked Garfias’s first full F3 campaign, he arrived with several years of experience in European single-seaters. He had raced in Formula Regional, GB3, Eurocup-3 and Euroformula Open, finishing fourth in the latter in 2025 after taking three victories and 10 podiums.
His move to PREMA therefore represented an opportunity to take the next step. As reported when PREMA announced Garfias, his previous F3 appearance and experience across different categories provided a solid foundation for his first full campaign.
However, Garfias’s deal came together relatively late. He admitted ahead of the season that the PREMA opportunity came as “a bit of a surprise”, forcing him to alter his preparations for the year.
Still, expectations remained relatively high. PREMA completed the most mileage of any team during pre-season testing, while Garfias joined returning F3 drivers James Wharton and Louis Sharp in its initial line-up.
A difficult start gives way to a first point in Monaco
Melbourne immediately highlighted the challenge facing both Garfias and PREMA. While Sharp and Wharton collided heavily during the Sprint Race, Garfias suffered his own misfortune in Sunday’s Feature Race.
As PREMA’s only remaining starter, the Mexican suffered an opening-lap puncture and had to pit immediately. The problem effectively ended any realistic chance of recovering a strong result and completed a difficult opening weekend for the team.
Monaco finally offered Garfias some reward. He initially struggled in Qualifying, setting only the 13th-fastest time in his group, but a chaotic Sprint Race opened the door.
Post-race penalties and Hiyu Yamakoshi’s disqualification reshuffled the classification considerably. Garfias eventually inherited 10th, giving him the final point and opening his 2026 account. He followed that result with 15th in the Feature Race.
However, rather than providing the foundation for a stronger run of results, Monaco ultimately produced Garfias’s only point of the season.
Garfias struggles to build momentum in 2026 F3 campaign
Barcelona brought another difficult weekend. Garfias finished the Sprint Race in 27th and failed to establish himself in the points battle as his early-season struggles continued.
The Spielberg in-season test also highlighted the work still required. Garfias ended the opening morning 26th before slipping to 29th during the afternoon. Although testing times require caution, the results offered little indication that a significant breakthrough had arrived.
Silverstone briefly provided greater encouragement.
Garfias became the first driver to break into the 1m46s during Qualifying for the British GP, showing flashes of the pace that had helped him succeed before F3. However, as the track evolved and the field improved, he fell back down the order.
Once again, he could not convert that early promise into points. Garfias eventually finished the Feature Race in 22nd, while Wharton took fourth and Sharp finished seventh.
That weekend illustrated one of the recurring problems of Garfias’s season. He could produce encouraging moments, but he rarely sustained them throughout an entire session or race weekend.
PREMA’s struggles provide context, but teammate comparisons hurt
Garfias did not struggle in isolation. PREMA endured a challenging campaign by its own standards and spent much of the season away from the championship’s leading teams.
By the end of the Spa weekend, the Italian outfit sat eighth in the Teams’ Championship after all three drivers failed to score. Garfias finished the Feature Race in 22nd, while Sharp and Wharton took 16th and 17th respectively.
That wider context matters when assessing his results. Garfias did not have the dominant PREMA package associated with previous F3 seasons, and the team regularly struggled to place all three cars near the front.
However, his teammates still extracted considerably more from the package. Wharton ultimately scored 29 points, while Sharp accumulated 21 before leaving the team ahead of Monza. Garfias remained on the solitary point he inherited in Monaco.
The comparison makes it difficult to attribute his results entirely to PREMA’s performance. While the team’s struggles limited his opportunities, Garfias also failed to maximise those that emerged.
A 2026 F3 season that never produced the expected progression for Garfias
The closing rounds offered Garfias little chance to change the complexion of his year. PREMA replaced Sharp with Alex Powell for Monza and Madrid, but Garfias retained his seat alongside Wharton.
He remained on one point following Monza before Madrid brought a difficult conclusion to his campaign. Garfias became one of six drivers eliminated in a major opening-lap accident during the first Feature Race, bringing another race to a premature end.
His final position of 29th therefore reflected a season in which promising moments never developed into sustained progress.
PREMA’s own difficulties undoubtedly shaped Garfias’s campaign, while his late confirmation also complicated his preparations. Yet his previous experience meant 2026 offered an opportunity to establish himself in F3 rather than simply learn the basics.
Instead, Monaco provided his only point, qualifying too often left him fighting from the midfield or further back, and stronger performances from his teammates showed that more remained available.
For Garfias, 2026 ultimately became a season where neither his experience nor occasional flashes of pace translated into the results he needed.
