Alessandro Giusti remains confident that both he and MP Motorsport can return to the sharp end of the field In Monaco despite a disappointing opening round of the 2026 FIA F3 season in Melbourne.
The Frenchman endured a difficult weekend at Albert Park, qualifying down in 16th and struggling to make progress through the field across both races. He eventually finished 21st in the Sprint Race and 15th in the Feature Race, leaving Australia without any points.
Since then, Giusti and MP Motorsport have spent time analysing what went wrong, with the Williams Driver Academy member believing they have identified the issues that compromised their pace.
“I was not that busy the first few weeks,” Giusti said when reflecting on the period following Melbourne. “But then we worked a bit with the team at the workshop, and then I prepared myself physically and mentally.
“We had a bit of an issue in Melbourne, we were struggling a bit with the pace. We looked at it quite a lot and I think we’ll try to change it.”
Before heading to Monaco, Giusti’s focus was firmly on the in-season test at Spielberg, which he believes will be an important opportunity for MP Motorsport to evaluate potential solutions.
While Monaco is the next stop on the calendar, Giusti admitted the unique nature of the street circuit means the biggest benefits of the Austrian test may not become clear until the following round in Barcelona.
“For us it’s quite important because we need to test the issues we had,” he explained. “We have to test the things we have to test. So it will be quite helpful for us, especially for Barcelona because Monaco is not a usual track. So it will be important after Barcelona onwards.”
Optimistic on the Monaco weekend
Despite the difficult start to the season, Giusti heads into the 2026 F3 Monaco GP with plenty of confidence. The Frenchman enjoyed a strong weekend in the Principality last year, scoring points in both races and starting the Sprint Race from reverse-grid pole.
With an extra year of experience under his belt, he believes he is in an even stronger position this time around.
“I think Monaco was quite good,” Giusti said. “We were a bit unfortunate on the red flag, but it’s a track I like. This year with a bit more experience I feel a bit better and I feel we can win Monaco again.”
More broadly, Giusti is optimistic about his prospects across the European leg of the season, provided MP Motorsport can resolve the issues that held them back in Melbourne.
“But as I said, if we fix this issue I think we’ll be at the front regularly,” he added. “It depends on the track, some tracks were not so good last year, but I think we can do better.
“I’m quite confident. If I’m feeling confident in the car, and I’m confident we’ll fight at the front.”
