Théophile Naël continued his impressive start to the 2026 FIA Formula 3 (F3) season by securing pole position for the Monaco GP, claiming his second consecutive pole after also topping qualifying in Melbourne.
The Campos Racing driver delivered when it mattered most around the streets of Monte Carlo, topping Group B’s qualifying session with a time of 1:24.471, just ahead of Group A’s Brando Badoer with a time of 1:24.612. In doing this, he earned the prime starting position for Sunday’s Feature Race.
When speaking during the Virtual Media Roundtable, with Pit Debrief in attendance, the Frenchman was happy with his performance, despite clipping the wall in the session.
Separately, Naël reflected on his pole-winning performance when speaking to FIA Formula 3, crediting the work Campos Racing has put in since the beginning of the season.
“Yeah my second pole in a row for FIA Formula 3,” he said. “Obviously, the team kept walking super hard in the beginning of the season.
“So it felt really good this pole, amazing. Now we should finish the work on Sunday, and tomorrow will be a day to learn for the Feature race on Sunday.”
Not letting little moments affect the session
Qualifying around Monaco always carries an element of risk, and Naël experienced that firsthand after brushing the barriers during the latter stages of the F3 Qualifying session. However, the Frenchman remained composed and continued pushing to secure pole position.
“Well, I mean for sure we are fighting quite hard to make the pole,” he explained. “So yeah, I clipped a bit into the last corner. Hopefully it didn’t hurt so much damage on the car so I was able to keep pushing for one more lap. But yeah, I mean we are fighting really hard so yeah, it can happen to clip a bit the wall.”
While pole position puts him in the strongest position for Sunday’s Feature Race, Naël insisted his focus now shifts towards gathering information in Saturday’s Sprint Race, where he will start outside the reverse-grid points positions.
“Well yeah, tomorrow will be a race to learn for the Feature Race on Sunday,” he said when asked by Pit Debrief about Saturday’s Sprint Race. “I mean, just I would love to take it easy. Avoid the crashes as well and try to have a clear idea of what the tyre management for Sunday is.”
His experience at the Macau Grand Prix
Naël also highlighted the role his victory at the prestigious Macau Grand Prix played in preparing him for another challenging street circuit.
In the closing stages while running in fourth, he had a thrilling double take on Mari Boya and Enzo Deligny at Lisboa, moving into P2, where moments later Freddie Slater crashed into the wall. Once the safety car was sent out, Naël the sealed the win.
“Yeah, I think Macau helped me bring confidence coming here to Monaco,” he said. “I mean, both tracks are really difficult in terms of bringing the pace into the quali so yeah, Macau helped for the confidence and I mean, I came here this morning with the same mentality as in Macau before the quali so yeah, I think it paid off again.”
Securing pole position around Monaco is often regarded as one of the most difficult achievements in junior single-seater racing, something Naël acknowledged when asked by Pit Debrief about his second pole-position in 2026.
“I felt really good,” he said. “Second pole in a row here in FIA Formula 3 so yeah, I felt good especially in Monaco. We’re hit this track second.
“We know that it’s maybe the toughest one on the calendar to make the pole so yeah, super happy. The team did a really good job. Yeah, thanks to them.”
His approach to the F3 Qualifying session
Naël added that building confidence progressively throughout the Monaco weekend proved crucial around Monaco’s unforgiving barriers, particularly with the unique F3 split-group qualifying format offering only a handful of opportunities to set a representative lap.
“I think the key is to bring up the speed step by step,” he explained. “We knew that the quali would have been with only three pushes maximum or four so really short quali we have to deliver everything and try to stay on track as well.”
Naël also backed Formula 3’s split-group qualifying format around Monaco, saying it helps drivers find clear track space on a circuit where traffic can easily compromise a lap.
“Yeah I think for us it helped quite a lot to finish some clean lap and to deliver everything,” he explained. “Even from the guys at the pitlane that we know that maybe it’s a disadvantage for them but yeah for F1 I don’t really know, of course I don’t have the experience.”
“But I think for us in F3, was yeah helpful but can be unlucky or you can be lucky on that side.”
Limited pre-qualifying time at the Principality
The Frenchman added that despite Monaco’s unique challenges, the combination of pre-event preparation and Thursday’s practice session gave him enough time to build confidence before qualifying.
Campos Racing participated in the recent in-season test at the Red Bull Ring, something Naël believes helped ease the transition back into race conditions after the lengthy break between Melbourne and Monaco.
“Yeah of course but we have been lucky to practice in Red Bull Ring two weeks ago as well to get back in the car. [which] bring back the confidence as well.
“So, I think yeah the free practise yesterday was really helpful for today, it makes sense, but yeah it was quite short I have to say. Already in free practice we had to deliver everything from the beginning if you want to fight for quali today.”
Naël will start in P12 for Saturday’s Sprint Race, but will feature on the front row for Sunday’s race on the streets of Monte Carlo.
