Brando Badoer regained 10th place in the 2026 Barcelona F3 Sprint Race after the Stewards rescinded his in-race penalty following a Right of Review.
Meanwhile, Maciej Gładysz, Matteo De Palo and Christian Ho each received converted drive-through penalties for starting from incorrect grid positions. As a result, the Stewards revised the final classification several hours after James Wharton took victory ahead of Freddie Slater and Gerrard Xie.
Badoer regains P10 following Right of Review
The Stewards originally handed Badoer a 10-second time penalty after ruling that he had caused a collision with Ernesto Rivera at Turn 14.
Badoer’s #18 Rodin Motorsport car made nose-to-tail contact with Rivera’s #3 Campos Racing entry after Rivera suddenly lost speed on the exit of the corner. However, the Stewards issued their initial decision during the race and based it on the video evidence available at the time.
Rodin Motorsport subsequently requested a Right of Review and presented new information surrounding the incident. Rivera’s team confirmed that his car had suffered an electrical problem, which caused an abrupt loss of power and speed as Badoer approached at full racing pace.
After hearing from both teams, the Stewards concluded that Badoer had taken evasive action but lacked sufficient time to avoid contact. They also determined that neither driver carried wholly or predominantly responsibility for the collision.
Therefore, the Stewards rescinded Badoer’s 10-second penalty and removed the two penalty points from his licence. They also took no further action over the collision between the two cars.
The revised decision restored Badoer to 10th place. Consequently, the Rodin Motorsport driver collected the final available championship point.
Gładysz penalised for incorrect grid position
While Badoer benefited from the review, Gładysz received a post-race penalty after the Stewards investigated his starting position.
The ART Grand Prix driver lined up his #11 car in the grid position assigned to car #7. The Stewards found that he had breached Article 37.15 of the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Sporting Regulations.
They therefore issued a drive-through penalty. However, because the race had already ended, they converted the sanction into a 20-second time penalty and added it to Gładysz’s elapsed race time.
As a result, Gładysz dropped to 23rd in the final classification.
De Palo receives converted drive-through penalty
The Stewards also investigated De Palo for lining up in the wrong position before the start.
The Trident driver placed his #6 car in the grid slot assigned to Gładysz’s #11 ART Grand Prix entry. Therefore, he also breached Article 37.15.
The Stewards issued De Palo a drive-through penalty and converted it into a 20-second addition after the race. That sanction dropped him to 25th in the final order.
De Palo also carried other penalties from the race. He received a five-second sanction for a false start and a further 10 seconds for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Consequently, the combined penalties added 35 seconds to his elapsed time.
Ho drops to P26 after starting out of position
Christian Ho became the third driver to receive a converted drive-through penalty for an incorrect starting position.
The Rodin Motorsport driver occupied the grid slot assigned to De Palo’s #6 car. Once again, the Stewards determined that the driver had breached Article 37.15.
They converted Ho’s drive-through penalty into a 20-second time addition, which dropped him to 26th.
Ho also received a separate 10-second penalty for leaving the circuit and gaining an advantage. Therefore, he finished 42.876 seconds behind Wharton after the Stewards applied all relevant sanctions.
Further penalties reshape lower order
Nicola Lacorte received a five-second penalty for a false start after moving before the starting signal.
Nevertheless, the DAMS Lucas Oil driver retained 16th in the final order after penalties for several rivals changed the positions behind him.
Gładysz also received a five-second false-start penalty, while Narain Bhirombhakdi collected five seconds for exceeding track limits. The latter ultimately finished 24th between Gładysz and De Palo.
Although these sanctions changed the lower half of the classification, they did not affect the points-paying positions apart from Badoer’s return to 10th.
Wharton retains victory and fastest lap
The post-race decisions did not alter the leading order. Wharton retained his first FIA Formula 3 victory after completing the 21-lap Sprint Race in 36:57.355. The PREMA Racing driver crossed the line 1.044 seconds ahead of Slater, while Xie completed the podium for DAMS Lucas Oil.
Wharton also set the fastest lap with a 1:32.211 on lap 17. Since he finished inside the top 10, he secured the additional championship point.
Tuukka Taponen finished fourth for MP Motorsport ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing team-mates Enzo Deligny and Bruno Del Pino.
Hiyu Yamakoshi claimed seventh, while Théophile Naël, Louis Sharp and Badoer completed the points-paying positions.
Full 2026 Barcelona F3 Sprint Race classification
- James Wharton
- Freddie Slater
- Gerrard Xie
- Tuukka Taponen
- Enzo Deligny
- Bruno Del Pino
- Hiyu Yamakoshi
- Théophile Naël
- Louis Sharp
- Brando Badoer**
- Noah Strømsted
- Alessandro Giusti
- Pedro Clerot
- Kanato Le
- Taito Kato
- Nicola Lacorte*
- Fernando Barrichello
- Jin Nakamura
- Yevan David
- Fionn McLaughlin
- Woohyun Shin
- Ricardo Escotto
- Maciej Gładysz*
- Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi*
- Matteo De Palo*
- Christian Ho*
- José Garfias
Not classified
- Ugo Ugochukwu
- Ernesto Rivera
- Mattia Colnaghi
* Penalised during or after the Sprint Race.
** Brando Badoer’s original penalty was rescinded following a Right of Review.
Revised classification restores Badoer’s point
The Right of Review produced the most significant competitive change by restoring Badoer to the final points position.
Meanwhile, the sanctions for Gładysz, De Palo and Ho reshaped the lower section of the classification after all three drivers started from incorrect grid positions.
Wharton therefore retained the victory, fastest lap and maximum available Sprint Race score, while Badoer left the review with 10th place and one championship point.
