Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi says his second-place finish in the 2026 FIA Formula 3 (F3) Feature Race in Barcelona meant more to him than his Monaco Sprint Race victory, describing it as an important response after a difficult end to the previous weekend.
Yamakoshi crossed the line first in Monaco’s Sprint Race but was later stripped of the victory after a post-race technical infringement. Just one week later, the Japanese driver bounced back with the best Feature Race result of his Formula 3 career, finishing second behind Théophile Naël after a strong performance throughout the Barcelona weekend.
Reflecting on the result of the F3 Barcelona Feature Race, Yamakoshi admitted it carried significant emotional value.
“I mean, it’s decent, this is kind of my second podium,” he said. “But I have a lot of emotions for this P2, I think more than Monaco P1 actually, in the Sprint Race.
“I think we did a really nice comeback from Monaco. And I think we had a really good pace from the start of the weekend. So for me, this is really positive for the team as well. Yeah, I think really good results for us.”
Making moves on the opening lap of the Feature Race
Yamakoshi made his move at the start of the race, launching from third on the grid and climbing into second place before Turn 1. The VAR driver even challenged race winner Naël in the opening corners before settling into P2.
“I think I had a really good launch,” he explained. “We learned quite a lot from yesterday.
“I almost overtook Theo at the start in Turn 1. It couldn’t work on the limit, but still, it was P2.”
Despite narrowly missing out on victory, Yamakoshi felt his pace throughout the race demonstrated the strength of the package underneath him.
“But still, we had a good pace in the beginning,” he said. “We had a lot of pace compared to… I think we had the best pace and we had the fastest lap. We can see we had the best car for me. It’s a bit of a mixed feeling, but still, I think for me it’s quite tough, but it’s a really fun race.”
Van Amersfoort Racing’s drivers
The result continued an impressive run for Van Amersfoort Racing, with the Dutch outfit maintaining its record of placing at least one driver in the points at every Formula 3 round so far this season.
While Yamakoshi believes the team’s outright speed was already present in previous years, he credits VAR’s ability to consistently execute race weekends as a key factor behind its success in 2026.
“I don’t think we had so much progress compared to last year,” he said. “We had a really good pace from last year, but couldn’t put everything together on the weekend.
“Every weekend, at least one driver puts everything together. That’s the biggest point for us.”
Looking ahead to Speilberg for Yamakoshi
Looking ahead to the next round at the Red Bull Ring, Yamakoshi is optimistic after a productive in-season test, although he expects the margins throughout the field to remain extremely close.
“For me, we had a really good test there,” he said. “I think we are one of the fastest teams at the test.
“I don’t know what will happen on the race weekend because the temperature and the track conditions will be completely different. But it’s a short track like Monaco, always really tight on the top 10, top 12. Actually, top 20.
“So, if a driver made one mistake, if the car runs something wrong, we could drop to P20 or P22. For me, that’s the main key. So for me, that’s the main key. Again, everything put together and keep in top 10 for the time in the qualifying.”
