Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu will start Sunday’s FIA Formula 3 (F3) Feature Race from the front row after converting a difficult Friday into a strong Qualifying result in the Spielberg Round. Despite losing valuable running to reliability issues in Free Practice, the American recovered to secure second on the grid, putting himself in contention for another significant haul of championship points.
Speaking during the 2026 post-Qualifying F3 Spielberg Round press conference, attended by Pit Debrief, Ugochukwu reflected on overcoming the morning’s setbacks, explained the thinking behind his approach to the chaotic closing stages of Qualifying, and outlined why tyre management and consistency will be the keys to success across the Austrian weekend.
Reliability issues limited the American’s running during the second half of Free Practice, but he remained confident he could put together a competitive lap when Qualifying got underway.
“Yeah, overall, it wasn’t the easiest morning in Free Practice, had a little bit of a reliability issue in the second run. So missed out on a few laps. But still pretty confident going into quali that I can put it together and do the job.
“The first run was a bit tricky, obviously, being at the far end of the top 12. So, I knew I needed to make a little bit of a step on the second run and it worked out pretty well. Got a clean lap, got on the front row. So overall, pretty happy with that.”
Getting the clean run in Qualifying
Getting that clean lap during the F3 Spielberg Qualifying session required more than outright pace. As the field jostled for position before their final flying laps, Ugochukwu found himself in the middle of the familiar Red Bull Ring traffic.
“Yeah, it wasn’t easy in the warmup laps. I came out the pits probably around P9, P10, but everyone was like first gear going to T3. No one wanted to leave the train and go without a slipstream. So it was a difficult decision.
“I decided to go ahead for the warmup laps at least and try to get a good tyre temp in. And yeah, it worked out pretty well being more towards the front. It just allowed me to get a clean run at the end of the quali. So overall, it worked out pretty well.”
Eyes on race pace rather than Turn 1
Although Turn 1 has a history of producing opening-lap drama at the Red Bull Ring, Ugochukwu believes Sunday’s Feature Race will be decided by tyre management rather than aggressive first-corner moves.
“Yeah, obviously it’s gonna be a long race with a lot of tyre deg. So yeah, first corner, it’s important to keep it clean and avoid any issues at the start because I think overall, whoever has the best race pace will end up ending up on top.“
Instead of taking unnecessary risks, he intends to settle into the race before focusing on the bigger picture.
“So yeah, just try to get a good start, but definitely not the main focus. Just kind of settle into the race and see how it pans out.”
“I need to maximise the opportunity”
When asked by Pit Debrief about the importance of capitalising on weekends where he has the pace to qualify near the front, Ugochukwu emphasised the value of consistency in such a closely contested championship.
“Yeah, for sure. It’s not easy to be consistently there at the front. I think especially around here, the gaps are very, very small and qualifying is always super tight. So yeah, being consistent in quali, which I felt I’ve done a good job of that this year and being at the front is really crucial, especially being in that top 12 to always be able to pick up points is super important.”
Starting on the front row again presents another opportunity to strengthen his championship campaign.
“So yeah, that’s always a big focus to be consistently at the front and then in the races you can fight from there and score as many points as possible. So for sure, now that I’m starting at the front, I need to try to maximise the opportunity and come home away from this weekend with some good points.”
Lessons for Barcelona to Spielberg
Tyre degradation is expected to be one of the defining factors of the F3 Spielberg Round, with conditions drawing comparisons to Barcelona.
Ugochukwu expects the soft compound to create graining issues for the entire field.
“Yeah, a little bit like the others said, you know, soft compound this weekend. So there will probably be some graining issues for everyone, which won’t be easy. But at the end of the day, just need to try to manage that as best as possible to get a little bit of advantage on the others.“
He also expects lessons from both previous rounds and Saturday’s Sprint Race to prove valuable before Sunday’s Feature Race.
“For sure, we take away stuff from Barcelona and in previous races this year. And also in the sprint race, you know, there’ll be a lot of learnings that we can take away and I’m sure everyone will try to improve as much as possible over Saturday night to be fully ready for Sunday.”
Asked what advice he would give to aspiring drivers looking to follow a similar path, Ugochukwu reflected on what representing the United States means to him before encouraging young racers to keep pushing towards their goals.
“Yeah, of course, super grateful and, yeah, proud to be, you know, representing the US and be racing in Formula 3. Yeah, I mean, it’s all every time, you know, I’m on the podium and the flags on the top step. So, yeah, you know, advice is just keep working hard to achieve your goals.
“And yeah, pretty much, you know, if you can work hard and try to improve always, for me, that’s always the main mindset. Always try to get better and improve and at the end you can be the best.”
