Ugo Ugochukwu ended Friday at Monza on a high after the F3 Qualifying in Italy. The PREMA Racing driver set the pace in Free Practice with a 1:38.473. He carried that speed into Qualifying. In Group A, he delivered a 1:38.613 to go fastest. Deleted laps for rivals, including reigning champion Rafael Câmara, cleared his path to the top. When both groups had run, only Brad Benavides went quicker. That secured Ugochukwu second place overall and a spot on the front row for the Feature Race.
Clean lap secures Ugochukwu P2 in tense Monza qualifying
Ugochukwu reflected positively on his Monza F3 qualifying run. He explained that his strong pace in practice gave him confidence heading into the session. The wait in the pit lane left him anxious, but ultimately, it came down to a “one-lap shootout.” With no margin for error, he stayed focused and delivered when it mattered. He was pleased to put in a clean lap and described P2 as “really, really good.” Looking ahead, he noted that Monza is not an easy track for racing, but he remained optimistic about fighting through the sprint and adding more points.
“Yeah, it was a good session overall. It’s been a really good day. Pace was also good in practice. So going into quali, I had good confidence to get a good result. Yeah, it was a bit of a, it was a tricky quali session, to be honest.”
“We were waiting in the pit lane for a long time, and I was starting to get a bit worried. But yeah, it was a one-lap shootout basically at the end. So very high-pressure moment because there was no room for mistakes, you know, track limits or traffic or something could really ruin your quali.”
“So yeah, really happy just to get a clean lap in. And yeah, P2 is really, really good. And this isn’t a good place for, you know, both races. Hopefully, we can come through in the sprint and score more points there as well.”
Top of Group A leaves Ugochukwu optimistic for Monza races
The gap between Group A and Group B times at the F3 Qualifying in Monza did not worry Ugochukwu. He felt Benavides “did a really good job” to set the pace but argued that with a second push lap, his group could have matched that improvement. Leading Group A was, he said, the best result available.
“Yeah, hard to say. I think obviously Brad [Benavides] did a really good job. He pulled it by quite a margin. So he definitely, you know, made the step compared to the others. I’m sure with a second push lap, everyone would have easily improved in our group as well. But yeah, obviously hard to say now. Top of my group, so best I can do there.”
Looking ahead, Ugochukwu emphasised steady progress in the final two races. Although 16th in the standings, he noted the fight up to P10 was very close. His focus remains on the sprint first, aiming for strong points. Before “ideally” going for victory in Sunday’s Feature Race in Monza.
“Yeah, I think just do the best possible job we can and see where we end up. I’m sure it’s very close, the area from P16 to P10, so it would be nice to finish up there. But yeah, we’ll take it race by race, focus on the sprint race. Ideally, we can score quite a few points. You can race and overtake around here, so that’s good. And then yeah, ideally try to go for the win on Sunday.”
Limited push laps and slipstream battles define qualifying run
Ugochukwu reflected on the challenges of going out first in F3 Qualifying Group A at Monza. He admitted it was “hard to say” what to expect with no reference points from earlier running, though previous years provided some guidance. With slipstream playing a big role at Monza, no one wanted to be the first to leave the pits, which caused delays. He acknowledged it “would have been nice to have more than one push lap” to build confidence and push harder on later attempts. Still, he felt it didn’t change much in the end and was satisfied with how the session played out.
“Well, yeah, probably. It’s hard to say. Obviously, in Group A, you don’t really know what to expect. Obviously, you have previous years to look at. So you kind of know a little bit where you’re going to get. Obviously, the slipstream is really crucial around here.”
“And I think nobody wanted to go out first. So that’s why we were so delayed going out the box. Obviously, it would have been nice to have more than one push lap. It would have been a little bit easier to just push the limits a bit more on the second and third lap. But it is what it is for me. It didn’t change too much.”
PREMA’s steady F3 progress rewarded with front-row start
Putting his PREMA car in P2 during F3 Qualifying at Monza brought plenty of pressure for Ugochukwu. With only one attempt possible, he stressed there was “no room for mistake.” A small error at the chicanes or a track limits violation would have ended his chances. To manage that risk, he focused on finding clear space on track, opening a gap, and putting in a clean lap to secure his place near the front.
“I would say so, yeah, definitely. There’s no room for mistake. If you go straight at the chicanes, you don’t have another chance to make it back or track limits or anything. So I made sure to get myself in a really clear space, get a big gap ahead and just do a clean lap to just keep something on the board.”
He also reflected on PREMA’s steady progress in F3. The team had “been in the fight for pole” over the last few rounds, showing stronger form each weekend. While missing out on pole at Monza was a slight frustration, Ugochukwu still described P2 and P3 for the Feature Race as a very positive result. For PREMA, at their home Grand Prix, it was an encouraging sign heading into the final races of the season.
“Good form. It’s been quite better and better each round. I feel like we’ve been in the fight for pole the last few. Missed out a little bit here again, but I think it’s still a really positive result. P2 and P3 for the future race is really good around Monza as well. I’m sure they’re even happier and hopefully we can convert it to a home race one.”
Ugochukwu backs two-group format for calmer F3 Monza qualifying
For Ugochukwu, the two-group qualifying system at Monza worked well. He argued it created “a bit less chaos on the track” than having all 30 cars out at once. While the hunt for slipstream would always be part of the challenge, he felt the split format kept things safer and more manageable. Even if one group had a small advantage, he believed the priority was simply to maximise performance in whichever group you were in. A strong lap there, he noted, was still enough to secure a place near the front overall.
“Hard to say. Hard to say. Me as a driver, I think at the end with two groups, there’s probably a bit less chaos on the track. 30 people maybe slowing down and looking for a slipstream can be maybe a little bit more dangerous. But at the end of the day, I don’t think it probably is a massive difference. Whatever it is, I think people are going to be looking for a slipstream.”
“It is Monza. It is really important to hire weak in this. So I didn’t mind the two groups, to be honest. Even if one group is maybe more advantaged than the other, at the end of the day, like Noel [Leon] said, you just have to maximise where you are in your group. If you get a good result in your group, then it really puts you in the front rows in the overall standing. So I don’t think it’s bad with two groups.”
Ugochukwu ready to turn pace into Monza results
Ugochukwu looked ahead to the races with quiet confidence. Recent podium finishes and strong pace gave him belief that a good result was possible at Monza. He expected tyre wear to play a major role, with graining on the soft compound likely to test management skills. Slipstream battles would add to the challenge, but he felt prepared to fight. His plan was to focus on the sprint first, then maximise the car’s potential for Sunday’s Feature Race, where he hoped to turn speed into another top result.
“Yeah, it’s been good the last few weekends in the race pace, let’s say. So that gives me a lot of confidence for Sunday around here on the soft tyre and it’s probably going to be a lot of graining.”
“So tyre management is also going to be really important. So we’ll see if we can be on top of that this weekend as well. Yeah, I’m confident, I’m confident, but we’ll see what happens in the feature race. Going to be a lot of slipstream battles and stuff. Focus on the sprint first, see how that goes and ideally try to maximise the car as best as we can for Sunday and we’ll see how it goes.”
