F3 has confirmed the two groups that will contest Friday’s split Qualifying session at Monza, with championship rivals Freddie Slater and Ugo Ugochukwu placed on opposite sides of the draw.
Following Thursday evening’s drivers’ briefing, officials confirmed that the even-numbered cars will form Group A and run first at 14:00 local time. Group B contains the odd-numbered cars and follows at 14:20, with each group receiving only 10 minutes to set its times.
Slater enters the penultimate round of the season eight points ahead of Ugochukwu, with the TRIDENT driver on 130 and his Campos Racing rival on 122. Their separation into different groups adds another variable to a weekend that could significantly reshape the championship before the Madrid finale.
Ugochukwu heads Group A for Monza Qualifying
Ugochukwu will compete in the opening group with all of the even-numbered cars as he attempts to respond after losing the championship lead to Slater in Budapest.
The Campos driver shares Group A with several other leading championship contenders, including Brando Badoer, Hiyu Yamakoshi and Tuukka Taponen. TRIDENT will have two cars in the group through Noah Strømsted and Matteo De Palo, while ART Grand Prix fields Taito Kato and Kanato Le.
Ricardo Escotto and Fernando Barrichello represent AIX Racing, while James Wharton’s PREMA teammate Alex Powell also runs in Group A. The 15-driver field is completed by Bruno del Pino, Jose Garfias, Fionn McLaughlin and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi.
Ugochukwu’s placement means he will not share the circuit with Slater during Qualifying, removing the possibility of the two championship leaders directly using one another for a tow around Monza’s high-speed layout.
Group A – Friday, 14:00
- #2 Ugo Ugochukwu – Campos Racing
- #4 Noah Strømsted – TRIDENT
- #6 Matteo De Palo – TRIDENT
- #8 Tuukka Taponen – MP Motorsport
- #10 Taito Kato – ART Grand Prix
- #12 Kanato Le – ART Grand Prix
- #14 Hiyu Yamakoshi – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #16 Bruno del Pino – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #18 Brando Badoer – Rodin Motorsport
- #20 Alex Powell – PREMA Racing
- #22 Jose Garfias – PREMA Racing
- #24 Fionn McLaughlin – Hitech
- #26 Ricardo Escotto – AIX Racing
- #28 Fernando Barrichello – AIX Racing
- #30 Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi – DAMS Lucas Oil
Slater faces Naël and Rivera in Group B
Slater will run in the second session alongside two of Ugochukwu’s Campos teammates, Théophile Naël and Ernesto Rivera.
Naël sits third in the Drivers’ Championship on 75 points, while Rivera follows in fourth with 72. Both could therefore influence the title fight if they qualify between Slater and Ugochukwu once the two group classifications are combined.
Group B also contains MP Motorsport pair Mattia Colnaghi and Alessandro Giusti, ART Grand Prix’s Maciej Gładysz and Van Amersfoort Racing driver Enzo Deligny. Rodin Motorsport fields Pedro Clerot and Christian Ho, while James Wharton represents PREMA Racing.
Hitech drivers Woohyun Shin and Jin Nakamura also run in the second group, alongside AIX Racing’s Yevan David and the DAMS Lucas Oil pairing of Nicola Lacorte and Gerrard Xie.
With Group B running 20 minutes after Group A begins, changes in track temperature, grip or wind could also influence the relative performance of the two sets of drivers.
Group B – Friday, 14:20
- #1 Théophile Naël – Campos Racing
- #3 Ernesto Rivera – Campos Racing
- #5 Freddie Slater – TRIDENT
- #7 Mattia Colnaghi – MP Motorsport
- #9 Alessandro Giusti – MP Motorsport
- #11 Maciej Gładysz – ART Grand Prix
- #15 Enzo Deligny – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #17 Pedro Clerot – Rodin Motorsport
- #19 Christian Ho – Rodin Motorsport
- #21 James Wharton – PREMA Racing
- #23 Woohyun Shin – Hitech
- #25 Jin Nakamura – Hitech
- #27 Yevan David – AIX Racing
- #29 Nicola Lacorte – DAMS Lucas Oil
- #31 Gerrard Xie – DAMS Lucas Oil
How will Monza F3 Qualifying determine the Feature Race grid?
The two sessions will not simply produce separate halves of the starting order. Instead, F3 will aggregate the results from both groups to determine the Feature Race grid.
Whichever driver sets the fastest time across the two sessions will take pole. The fastest driver from the other group starts alongside them in second, before the remaining positions alternate between the two classifications.
For example, if Group A produces the outright pole time, its fastest driver starts first and the Group B leader starts second. The second-fastest Group A driver would then take third ahead of the second-fastest Group B competitor, with that alternating pattern continuing down the grid.
That system makes a driver’s position within their own group particularly important. A competitor cannot simply rely on setting a faster time than someone in the opposite session because their starting position depends primarily on their ranking against the other 14 drivers running alongside them.
Sprint Race grid adds another complication
Saturday’s Sprint Race will also use the two Qualifying classifications, but the reversal creates a different order.
The sixth-fastest driver from the slower of the two groups will start from reverse-grid pole. Sixth place from the group that produces the Feature Race polesitter will line up alongside in second, before the two group classifications alternate through the reversed section.
The format means sixth place within a group carries unusual significance. A driver narrowly missing fifth could potentially secure the best starting position for Saturday while still remaining reasonably placed for Sunday’s Feature Race.
Monza’s tendency to produce extremely small margins makes that particularly relevant. With only 10 minutes available, drivers will have limited opportunities to establish clear track position, find a useful slipstream and complete a representative lap without encountering traffic.
Slater and Ugochukwu face different paths to front row
The draw creates a particularly intriguing situation for the two championship leaders because they cannot directly compare conditions until both sessions have finished.
Slater heads into Monza after winning the Budapest Feature Race and taking the championship lead for the first time this season. Ugochukwu had led throughout the opening six rounds before Spa and Budapest produced a 26-point swing between the pair, transforming his previous 18-point advantage into an eight-point deficit.
Group A gives Ugochukwu an immediate benchmark against Badoer, Taponen and Strømsted, while Slater must contend with Naël, Rivera and several other drivers capable of challenging towards the front in Group B.
The fastest overall lap will decide which group receives the odd-numbered Feature Race grid positions. Consequently, even if both title contenders top their respective sessions, the difference between their lap times will determine which one starts from pole and which lines up second.
Monza Qualifying could shape penultimate F3 round
Friday’s draw adds another layer of unpredictability to an already unusual Monza weekend.
F3 has adopted split Qualifying to reduce the congestion that can develop when all 30 cars search for slipstreams around the Italian circuit. However, the shortened sessions increase the consequences of traffic, mistakes, Red Flags or changing track conditions because each driver has only 10 minutes to produce their representative time.
The championship situation increases those stakes further. Slater and Ugochukwu remain separated by only eight points with Monza and Madrid remaining, while the battle behind them is also close as Naël, Rivera and Badoer fight over third.
Group A takes to the circuit at 14:00 local time on Friday, with Group B beginning at 14:20. The resulting classifications will establish both Saturday’s reversed Sprint Race grid and Sunday’s Feature Race order, making the 20 minutes of Qualifying some of the most consequential running of the 2026 season.
