Campos Racing’s Théophile Naël says securing his maiden FIA Formula 3 (F3) victory in Barcelona was the perfect reward after narrowly missing out on a Feature Race win in Monaco just one week earlier.
After claiming a third consecutive pole position on Friday, the Frenchman converted it into victory with a controlled lights-to-flag drive around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, leading every lap to secure his first Formula 3 Feature Race win and strengthen his championship challenge. Naël currently sits in P2 in the standings after the Barcelona round, only 6 points behind team mate Ugo Ugochukwu in P1.
Reflecting on the achievement, Naël admitted the result was especially satisfying after coming close to victory in Monaco.
“Yes, it sounds really good,” he said when asked about becoming an Formula 3 race winner. “Super happy to first win in FIA Formula 3 for me, after a long time.
“The team deserves it. Last week in Monaco, I was close to grabbing the first place, but anyway, it was good points for the Championship and this weekend we came back even stronger, I guess. Super happy, good points for the team as well.”
Campos’ dominant weekend in Barcelona
The victory completed a dominant weekend for Campos Racing, with teammate Ugochukwu joining him on the podium as the Spanish outfit continued its impressive start to the season.
While the result appeared comfortable from the outside, Naël revealed he spent much of the race balancing tyre management with the need to keep Hiyu Yamakoshi out of DRS range.
“It was quite difficult, to be honest,” he explained. “Hiyu behind was pushing quite hard, so I had to manage my tyres and still keep him out of the DRS. It was quite tough. I was struggling quite a lot at the beginning of the race and then it started to get better and better.”
As the laps ticked down on the F3 Barcelona Feature Race, Naël focused on avoiding mistakes rather than chasing outright pace. During the Feature Race, many drivers who slipped off the racing line endured off track excursions, with even some in the gravel, as the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is known for its high tyre deg and low grip nature.
“I just took it easy at the end of the last two laps to avoid mistakes and finish as the race leader.”
Naël’s 2026 F3 season
The win also served as vindication after a remarkable run of qualifying form. Having secured pole position in Melbourne, Monaco and Barcelona across the first 3 consecutive rounds, Naël finally converted his front-row advantage into Feature Race victory.
“Yeah, I think it’s really good because three poles in a row, I guess the first one maybe was lucky, and then I did second and then the third one, so I guess it was deserved. So to finish the job in the Feature Race now was the last goal. I think today we did it.”
Looking ahead to the next round at the Red Bull Ring, Naël expects another competitive weekend despite Campos not topping the timesheets during in-season testing.
“Well, in testing this year, we have been struggling a bit, but the team last year was really, really strong with the pole position for Nikola [Tsolov, in 2025] so I expect that we can still be fighting at the top.”
