After winning their first FIA Formula 3 (F3) Teams’ Title in 2025 with Nikola Tsolov, Mari Boya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak, Adrian Campos believes his team, Campos Racing, can go one step further and claim both Championships in 2026.
The Campos Racing Team Principal spoke at the end of the third day of pre-season testing in Barcelona, where the Spanish team had 3 good days of learnings, with 605 laps completed across their 3 drivers.
When times across the board were fastest on the morning of Day 2, Campos found their 2026 F3 drivers down the order, with Théophile Naël in 12th, Ugo Ugochukwu in 20th and Patrick Heuzenroeder, stepping in for the injured Ernesto Rivera, in 24th.
But Campos explained that his team were working through a few setup ideas, before finding a balance that worked on Day 3, with all 3 drivers improving up the timing table.
“I think it was quite productive,” said Campos on testing. “I think the team has done a good job during the winter to prepare some test items to see where we can improve because there is still a lot of room with a car that we have had for one season. So that’s what we did.“
“Today we tried to understand what the best combination was, and this was why we were a bit more up there in the times. But I think we have done all the tests that we wanted.”
3 new drivers for the team in 2026
Ugochukwu and Naël both arrive at Campos Racing having completed a full season in Formula 3, giving them a solid foundation in the car and with the team. Ugochukwu is known for his consistency and strong technical feedback, which helps the engineers fine-tune the car. Naël brings raw pace and an aggressive racing style, making him a constant presence at the front. Their previous testing experience with Campos Racing has allowed them to hit the ground running this year.
“We have two drivers – in Ugo and Theo – that already have some experience,” he explained. “They already have one year in Formula 3, and they were testing with us last year. So I think they were quite good and adapted to the car that we have.”
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t have Ernesto with us here. We had Pat, who is a driver that will race with us in another championship, and it’s been surprising how fast he adapted to the new car.”
Rivera was unavailable after sustaining an injury in Round 4 of the Castrol Toyota Formula Regional Oceania Trophy in New Zealand, which forced him to miss testing with the team.
Heuzenroeder stepped in to fill the gap, and quickly impressed. Despite being new to the car, he showed adaptability and pace, learning the circuits and car setup quickly. His performance gave the team valuable data during testing and highlighted his potential for the future.
“It’s a car that he has never driven and he felt very comfortable with the team and with the car, and straight away he was up there in the times. I think it took him only a few laps to adapt to this new car for him.”
Analysing data in testing
With the competitive field of Formula 3 as close as ever, and timings on both qualifying simulations and long runs extremely tight, Campos was asked whether he and his team were focusing solely on themselves or also keeping an eye on their rivals.
“Obviously to understand a bit more if the things that we are testing are good or not, we need to compare with the others,” he explained. “Obviously, we need to compare and see what the others are doing in each moment and then take a conclusion on if the test items are positive or not.”
“Also a part of it is the feedback from the drivers, which we need to know if the car is quick. We try to focus on ourselves but also, we always need to keep an eye on the others and see what the others are doing.”
Their 2025 season
Campos head into the 2026 F3 season looking to retain their Teams’ Championship, but want to take it one step further and claim the Drivers’ title. Their 2025 season finished with Nikola Tsolov in P2, Mari Boya in P3 and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in P7.
While the individual results and the Teams’ Championship went their way in the end, their early season was an area to improve on. They only achieved two victories, four podiums in total, but also had 14 non scoring results in the first five rounds of 2025.
The second half of the season picked up, with four victories, nine podiums and only 9 results where their drivers didn’t finish within the points.
Reflecting on last season, Campos admitted the team had been unlucky early on.
“We had a lot of bad luck in the first two maybe, even three events,” he explained. “If we can start properly in Melbourne, which is something that didn’t happen last year, we can even have more chances at the end of the year.“
“We want to at least be able to arrive to the last race being a title contender with our drivers, not only as a team. This is obviously our main focus for next year. This year we want to go for the drivers’ title also.”
