After the opening round of the 2026 FIA F3 Championship, Campos Racing sits second in the Teams’ Standings with 27 points—just three points behind early Championship leaders Van Amersfoort Racing. However, as always in F3, the battle for the 2026 title remains in the air, with rapid, frequent changes across the standings table expected throughout the remaining rounds. While speaking to Formula 3 after Melbourne, Team Principal Adrian Campos discussed the team’s solid Round 1 performance and outlined his expectations for the remaining rounds.
Campos hopes to fight at the top after a successful 2026 opening F3 round in Melbourne
In Melbourne, the Spanish team enjoyed a strong weekend with Ugo Ugochukwu claiming victory in the Feature Race. However, the weekend could have been even better had Théophile Naël not been penalised for a false start. The stewards handed the Frenchman a five-second penalty, demoting him to P12 in the final classification.
Speaking on the 2026 Melbourne F3 Round, Campos stated: “I’m a bit unhappy because of the penalty for Théo. But anyway, it is what it is, and we need to live with that now. It would have been great to have both drivers on the podium, but still, it’s a win from Ugo.
“Both drivers showed that they were very, very strong. They did a very good start. I hope that Ernesto comes back at 100% of his potential and can be also fighting with them at the top.”
Continued strong performances throughout 2026 will be vital as Campos Racing hopes to build on its strong 2025 campaign. The Spanish team ended 2025 with a maiden F3 Teams’ Championship title, beating out Trident on the final day of the season. Eager to maintain their momentum, the team continued their hard work into the off-season, aiming to gain every advantage in their title defence.
“We just continued what we know how to do. We were confident that our car was strong, and if we managed to have good drivers, as we do, we know that we will still be at the top.
“When you have a good car and you have good drivers, you can only be on top. So, yeah, we are very confident that we can continue like this all season.”
A challenging start to the 2026 F3 season for Rivera with debut expected in Monaco
In addition to discussing the team’s performance in Melbourne, Campos turned his attention to the third driver of the line-up—Ernesto Rivera. During his pre-season preparations in the 2026 Formula Regional Oceania Trophy, the Red Bull junior sustained a back injury, which ultimately forced him out of the 2026 F3 opener in Melbourne. He was subsequently replaced by Patrick Heuzenroeder.
However, with several months having passed since his injury, Rivera is expected to rejoin Campos Racing for Round 2, where he will make his F3 debut on the iconic streets of Monte Carlo. For a driver new to the series and unfamiliar with several tracks, Campos expects some challenges. Despite this, he believes that the Mexican driver will be able to settle into the competition with time and eventually show his potential.
“It’s going to be challenging for him to race in Monaco without knowing the track. It will be very challenging, but then later we move to the rest of the European races. He will know not all of the tracks, but most of them, and then he will be able to show his potential, and hopefully it’s easy enough to be fighting for the top five, at least.”
High hopes for Campos on the streets of Monte Carlo
While Rivera’s return will remain a focus point in the Spanish team’s preparations for Round 2, Campos maintains that the team has high hopes for Round 2. The team hopes to build on their previous success in Monaco, with Nikola Tsolov having taken victory in the Feature Race in 2025.
“We have huge hopes for this race weekend in Monaco. It’s a track that where we have always been very strong around, winning there in the Championship last year. We are also in a good position in the pitlane, which is always something positive in Monaco. Let’s see how it goes. You never know, but we are confident and we have all that we need to do over the weekend.
“We are still growing. We are doing things very well. I have had the same people working together for a very long time and we are still improving. We can always do better. The drivers are very good, they are doing a great job, but they can always do better.
“So, as a team, we will keep improving even if we are winning races we cannot relax. I think that it is very important to keep the momentum, keep winning, and we will keep working hard to do things with common sense and trying to be better every day.”
Campos’ preparation for the next rounds
Of course, with such a lengthy break between Round 1 in March and Round 2 in June, the Campos Racing team and its drivers have taken the opportunity to focus on their preparations. This has seen the drivers involved in training and data collection with engineers.
“We have more time to talk through everything very carefully. The engineers have more time to analyse all the data. Drivers have more time to prepare themselves for the next event. They have been coming here to the workshop. Obviously, we have discussed what we need to do based on Melbourne in order to prepare for the next races. We have started also a little bit with Monaco, but we still have time, and we will do more prep before then that’s for sure.”
Thus, Campos Racing are prepared for a strong return with F3 returning to the track in Monaco for Round 2.
