Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
FIA Formula 3 championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu says he is looking to “prove myself once more” following his split from the McLaren driver development programme prior to this season.
Having joined McLaren back in 2021, the American was cut from its junior programme as part of a max exodus aspiring young drivers that also included Formula 2 racer Martinius Stenshorne and Ugochukwu’s F3 rival Brando Badoer.
Although Ugochukwu’s departure came as a surprise to some, the New Yorker insists that the support McLaren provided while he stepped up from karts to single-seaters proved invaluable.
“There’s a lot of things that you pick up along the way, I was still in karting when I joined so it’s been a long journey since there and for sure I have much more knowledge and experience and I’m a lot further in my racing career,” he told Formula Scout.
“I definitely picked up a lot of points. Just trying to learn from people that have more experience than you. It was a great help at the start of my journey in car racing.”
Beginning 2026 it was clear that Ugochukwu would not be adversely affected by the situation: total dominance in the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy was capped off with victory at the opening F3 round in Melbourne.
“Of course you learn from it but you need to let the past go,” Ugochukwu said. “Any pressure comes from yourself. I know my talent, I know my speed and that didn’t change at the end of last season. Coming into this year with Campos it was just normal, nothing really changed.
“It was unbelievable, a really good start to 2026 as a whole, in Oceania as well, a really good championship. It started super good in round one winning two races and then kept that consistency for the whole campaign.”
Ugochukwu had come 11th in the Formula Regional European Championship with Prema in 2024 (though won the Macau Grand Prix with R-ace GP) and then 16th in his rookie F3 campaign with the same team.
“It was really good also to showcase what I could do in a Formula Regional car, just to kind of shut down the noise of not being quick in that car and prove to be just as fast if not faster than the guys winning FRECA. It definitely filled me with a lot of confidence going into F3.”
Ugochukwu continues to the F3 championship table as the series entered its second half at Silverstone.
While Colton Herta is unable to mount a championship challenge in F2, Ugochukwu feels a sense of pride being able to put the United States flag on the podium during a Formula 1 weekend.
“It’s super special. Being on the podium and seeing it every time is super cool, especially as it’s on an F1 weekend. My goal is to keep getting it up there and keep putting it up through the ranks and hopefully have it up there on F1.”
Ugochukwu recently completed his first F1 test with Alpine at Monza.