MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti heads into the third round of the 2026 F3 season in Barcelona with confidence, as the Frenchman heads into the weekend fresh off a double points finish in Monaco. After a difficult start to the season in Melbourne, Giusti bounced back last weekend by finishing P4 and P7 in the Sprint and Feature Races respectively. For him, the results marked a significant step forward, and he hopes that he can carry this momentum into this weekend’s round in Barcelona
During Thursday’s virtual media session, when asked by Pit Debrief what would define a successful weekend for him, the 19 year-old emphasised that a clean weekend showing clear progress from Monaco would represent success in his eyes.
“To have success this week, I would say is to have a clean weekend, like no big issue and getting back to the front with the car.”, Giusti said.
“I think in Monaco we made a step forward, and that would be another step forward will be good. And yeah, to still grab some good points and even a podium or win would be really good.”
Returning to a well-known venue: the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
As the calendar returns to a circuit that is familiar to every driver, having been used extensively for testing and racing throughout their junior careers, Giusti explained how much of a difference drivers can make, particularly at a venue that is so well known across the field.
“I mean Barcelona, I think all the drivers know very well the track. There’s always the pre-season and end of season testing, so I think every driver drives a lot of laps there. So yeah, the difference is the heat is a bit more, and you have to play with it, and as well you’ve got only three push [laps] in qualifying, which is really tricky, so you have to manage quite well.”
A circuit where he has excelled at in the past
Despite having found success at Barcelona last year, where he secured his maiden F3 podium in the Feature Race, Giusti admitted it is not his favourite track to drive, given how frequently he has raced there throughout his career.
“To be honest, it’s not my favourite track to be honest, because it’s a track when we drove like so much, and I feel like the track I like is the track you drive the least.”, the Frenchman said.
Nonetheless, reflecting on what he did well last year, he pointed to a well-executed Qualifying session and strong tyre management during the race.
Giusti continued: “Like, I like the track like Melbourne, Monaco and so on, but to be honest, I always feel good in FRECA, F3 in this track and I’ve really been good in tyre degradation in FRECA and F3.”
“And I think last year in F3, we just did a good job in quali, and then we were there in the race and with my tyre management was really good because I gained some places and finished on the podium, and yeah did a quite good weekend.”
Giusti: Important to “keep momentum” and current level of consistency
Fresh off a double points finish, Giusti will be hoping to maintain the momentum and form he has built in Monaco. Pointing to 2024 F3 Champion Leonardo Fornaroli’s campaign, who secured the title without a single race win, he noted that consistency each weekend will be key to his championship pursuit.
He said: “Yeah, I would say it’s quite important to to keep this momentum because I think we already use our joker because we scored zero points in Melbourne. And I think as we saw the last few years, I think like Fornaroli, he didn’t win a race, but he was super consistent, and at the end of the season he won the title.”
“So I think to stay at this level of consistency, especially there in Barcelona on a track that I know well and could be a good result, it will be important to stay at the level of scoring, like 15-20 points would be very good.”
