Ernesto Rivera left the Red Bull Ring with plenty to celebrate after securing his maiden 2026 FIA Formula 3 (F3) victory in Saturday’s Spielberg Sprint Race, a result that marked the biggest milestone of his rookie campaign to date.
Although Sunday’s Feature Race did not unfold as he had hoped, the Campos Racing driver remained upbeat as he reflected on a weekend that delivered his first Formula 3 podium, first victory and valuable lessons ahead of the next round at Silverstone.
Speaking after the 2026 F3 Spielberg Feature Race, Rivera admitted Saturday’s triumph made the weekend a memorable one despite the disappointment of Sunday.
“Obviously yesterday was a good day getting my first win, my first podium and also here at the Red Bull Ring,” Rivera said.
The Mexican was unable to repeat that success in the Feature Race after an collision dropped him out of contention, though he was still uncertain exactly what had happened.
“Today didn’t go our way. I don’t know still if I got hit or I spun by myself but I still learned quite a lot today.“
Despite the setback, Rivera believes there could not have been a more fitting venue for his first Formula 3 victory, with the Red Bull Ring serving as the home circuit of the Red Bull Junior Team.
“It’s great to have that first win here,” he said. “I think it was the best place for a first win for me.”
Closing the gap at Campos Racing
Rivera has continued to grow in confidence since returning from the injury that forced him to miss the opening round of the season, and he believes he is getting ever closer to matching the pace of experienced Campos Racing teammates Hugo Ugochukwu and Théophile Naël.
“I think I’ve always been quite close to them,” he explained. “Each round I have been feeling a bit more comfortable with the car, more confident as well so I think I can be ahead of them in the next couple of rounds.”
While acknowledging the challenge of outperforming his teammates, Rivera is confident he has the ability to do so.
“Of course they are really good and it will take a lot to beat them but I think I can do it.”
Confidence growing for Rivera ahead of Silverstone
Attention now turns to Silverstone, where Rivera is aiming to build on the momentum generated in Spielberg.
Although he has yet to race competitively at the iconic British circuit, previous testing has left him optimistic about his prospects.
“I’ve never raced there but I do know the track, I’ve tested there,” Rivera said. “I love the track, I think it’s a great circuit and Campos were very fast there last year so I think I’m quite confident I’ll be up next weekend.”
Rivera expects qualifying to present a very different challenge compared to Spielberg, with the emphasis likely to be on extracting the maximum from a single flying lap rather than building performance over multiple attempts.
“It will be the same as in Barcelona,” he explained. “In qualifying it’s single push as opposed to here that you have more laps so we will try to put it all together in qualifying.”
Preparation has also been a key focus in the build-up to the Silverstone Round, with Rivera completing extensive simulator work alongside both Campos Racing and the Red Bull Junior Programme.
“I’ve been doing a lot of sim work both in Campos and in Red Bull so I have to just trust the preparation and I think we’ll be good.”
Having secured the breakthrough result he had been chasing throughout his rookie Formula 3 campaign, Rivera now heads to Silverstone believing both his confidence and preparation can help him continue climbing towards the front of the field.
