FIA Formula 3 2026 season preview: A guide to all 31 drivers

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Will the order in the second year of using the Dallara F3 2025 follow the first? Here’s a guide to the entry list

Campos Racing

Campos narrowly claimed the teams’ title last season, the first using the Dallara F3 2025 car. Its drivers delivered six wins, three in feature races. In 2023 it had come fourth with 179 points, taking three wins and three other podiums, more than 2019 to 2022 combined. 179 points were scored again in 2024, which was trumped in 2025 by 14 podiums and 314 points.

1. Theophile Nael France, 18
2025: 8th in FIA F3, Macau GP winner, 7th in FRegional Middle East   2024: 11th in FRME, DSQ in Macau GP

The 2025 FIA Formula 3 Championship marked the first time in Nael’s single-seater career that he had driven for a team other than Sainteloc Racing, and it went well. He started his debut season with Van Amersfoort Racing in Melbourne by qualifying third and converting it into a feature race podium, and while he then went three rounds points-free he showed his potential again at Barcelona (where he topped a pre-season test session last month) by qualifying fourth and being feature race runner-up. An identical race result in Silverstone brought him big points too, making up for the low-scoring weekends. In November he showed street circuit prowess again by winning the Macau Grand Prix, which ran for Formula Regional cars.

2. Ugo Ugochukwu USA, 18
2026: FRegional Oceania trophy winner   2025: 16th in FIA F3, 3rd in FRME   2024: Macau GP winner, 7th in FRME

Burdened with the disadvantage of being incredibly tall, and now without the backing of the McLaren Formula 1 team which he had been a protege of since 2021 while in karting. But his stint of independence has already featured a title as he won the Formula Regional Oceania trophy earlier this year against many of the drivers he will be up against in F3. Having won the E4 title in 2023 and Macau GP in 2024, Ugochukwu’s career lost momentum last year after stepping up to F3. There were two podiums, but only seven races in which he scored. Like Nael, he topped a pre-season test session this February.

3. Ernesto Rivera Mexico, 17
2026: 11th in FRegional Oceania trophy   2025: 4th in Eurocup-3, 9th in FRME, NC in Eurocup-3 winter series

The Red Bull junior will not make his F3 debut until round two at the earliest, as the recovery period from a back injury sustained while racing in FRegional Oceania has ruled him out of racing in Melbourne this weekend. He has made the podium in that series and FRegional Middle East over the last two years, and is familiar to Campos having come fourth in Eurocup-3 with the team in 2025. That campaign featured three wins and two poles.

3. Patrick Heuzenroeder Australia, 20
2026: currently 10th in Eurocup-3 WS   2025: 2nd in GB3, 4th in FRegional Oceania   2024: 12th in GB3   2023: 26th in GB3

The stand-in for Rivera during pre-season testing and Melbourne is Heuzenroeder, whose primary focus this year is driving for Campos in Eurocup-3. He is contending for a high position in the winter series standings, and would be free to substitute for Rivera in round at Bahrain if required.

Trident

Consistently the most competitive team in F3, Trident has been runner-up in the teams’ standings for five of the last six seasons. The exception is 2021 when it won the title. It has run the last three champions, and has at least one driver in its 2026 line-up (which was named in September 2025 so has had plenty of preparation time) capable of continuing that run. Another target will be beating the 10-podium tally it had with the new car last year, and to match its highest haul of 13 achieved in 2021.

4. Noah Stromsted Denmark, 18
2025: 6th in FIA F3, 7th in Macau GP   2024: 32nd in FIA F3, 6th in FRegional European Championship, 30th in FRME

Despite coming sixth in his rookie FIA F3 season, Stromsted vacated his place in the Mercedes-AMG F1 Junior Team this year after 10 months in the programme. He has the advantage of continuity though still, as he raced for Trident in 2025. In the first three rounds, Stromsted was twice a runner-up in feature races and sat second in the standings. He only scored three times in the next six rounds, which did include sprint race victory at Spa-Francorchamps and his place in the points table reflected his pace and Trident’s nack for starting weekends with stronger setups than rivals. If he improves on climbing up the field in sprint races, he holds title-winning potential.

5. Freddie Slater England, 17
2026: 2nd in FRegional Oceania   2025: 27th in FIA F3, FREC champion, 2nd in FRME, 12th in GB3, DNF in Macau GP

Many people’s favourite for the title, Slater did two F3 rounds last year and in his first with AIX Racing he took a podium and a fastest lap. While doing less than three rounds made it harder to make punchy conclusions about his pace, only 10 drivers led more laps than him in 2025. Looking at everything aside from F3 that Slater has raced in over the last 14 months, he has been dominant. He won eight FRegional European Championship races, four in FRME and had three wins from three GB3 rounds in 2025, won the Macau GP qualification race and began 2026 with a race-winning run to second in FRegional Oceania’s standings. Since January he has also been a junior driver of the Audi F1 team.

6. Matteo De Palo Italy, 18
2025: 2nd in FREC, 8th in Macau GP, 19th in FRME   2024: 17th in FREC, 18th in FRME, DSQ in Macau GP

De Palo earned a place in the McLaren Driver Development Programme by being Slater’s closest rival in FREC. He won four races, had seven further podium appearances and was on pole three times. At the Macau GP, his first event as a McLaren junior, he stayed out of trouble to finish eighth. It was a breakthrough year without a doubt, but to remain a rival to Slater in their rookie F3 years will require another step up in performance.

MP Motorsport

Only Campos scored points in more races than MP in 2025, but it only recorded 10 top-five finishes over 19 races with its three cars. It had a line-up that looked like they would be reliable points-scorers rather than spectacular talents, but there’s excitement around all its 2026 drivers. The team was strong on qualifying and race pace with the Dallara F3 2025, which is another key factor in high-scoring campaigns.

7. Mattia Colnaghi Italy, 17
2025: Eurocup-3 champion, 2nd in Eurocup-3 WS, 4th in Macau GP   2024: 14th in Macau GP, Spanish F4 champion

Colnaghi won the Spanish Formula 4 and Eurocup-3 titles in successive years with MP, and by continuing that partnership seeks to extend that momentum, while also starting his first full year as a Red Bull junior. He topped F3’s post-season test at Imola, but was only 19th in pre-season testing and slowest of MP’s drivers. In the off-season he also came fourth in the Macau GP with PHM Racing.

8. Tuukka Taponen Finland, 19
2025: 9th in FIA F3   2024: 31st in FIA F3, FRME champion, 3rd in FREC, 10th in Macau GP   2023: 2nd in UAE4, 5th in E4

The standout MP driver in pre-season testing, Taponen claimed three podiums en route to ninth in the points table as a rookie with ART Grand Prix in 2025. That team struggled on single-lap pace, which had a knock-on effect most weekends but didn’t stop Taponen from being the seventh-highest scorer in feature races. He has been a Ferrari junior for over three years, and will be the team’s sole protege at this level in 2026.

9. Alessandro Giusti France, 19
2025: 10th in FIA F3   2024: 4th in FREC   2023: 6th in FREC   2022: French F4 champion   2021: 6th in French F4

Having matched Taponen’s points tally last season as an MP driver, the obvious target for Giusti is to be the team’s top driver in 2026. He was in the top 10 in most metrics as a rookie, and had a nine-race scoring run that concluded with a feature race podium at Barcelona and sprint race podium at the Red Bull Ring. He sat fifth in the standings then, but in the remaining nine races only scored 13 points. It is a trend that MP needs to ensure isn’t repeated.

ART Grand Prix

2025 was one of the team’s weakest seasons ever in GP3/FIA F3, but it still included a win, five other podiums and plenty learned about a new car. A lack of qualifying pace was the big issue, and if it can be rectified then its drivers should be able to better utilise the strong race pace shown last year.

10. Taito Kato Japan, 18
2026: 11th in FRME   2025: 5th in Macau GP, 7th FREC, 12th in FRME   2024: French F4 champion

The Honda junior is only in his third year of car racing. He started off in French F4, where he was champion, and in 2025 picked up one podium in FRME and two in FREC with ART GP. A consistent end to the campaign put him seventh in the points, then at the Macau GP he qualified fourth and finished fifth. He has remained busy with the team since then, winning in a part-time FRME campaign and of course driving in F3 post and pre-season testing.

11. Maciej Gladysz Poland, 17
2025: Eurocup-3 WS champion, 10th in Eurocup-3   2024: 3rd in Spanish F4, 3rd in FWinter Series

Another third-year car racer, Gladysz switches allegiances after two years with MP. He relied on podiums to come third in the Formula Winter Series as a single-seater newcomer, then claimed three victories and five other podiums to also be third in Spanish F4. Although far from the title contenders in both, when he graduated to Eurocup-3 at the start of 2025 he was instantly at the front and won the winter series title. In the main championship he also won in round one, but only had one top-five finish following that.

12. Kanato Le Japan, 18
2026: 6th in FRegional Oceania   2025: 8th in FRME, 11th in Macau GP, 14th in FREC, 14th in GB3   2024: 18th in FREC

Kato’s 2025 FRegional team-mate had a strong start to 2026 by winning in FRegional Oceania. He won in GB3 as a part-timer and in FRME last year, but was outshone by the same drivers in continental Europe and that does not bode well for F3 given the tracks being raced on.

Van Amersfoort Racing

Last year was VAR’s best by almost every measurement. It scored more podiums, took more trophies and had a driver higher up in the standings than ever before. However its top-scoring driver had fewer points than ever before, yet they still brought in over half of the team’s total tally despite having a team-mate who won the season opener and a feature race. This year’s line-up looks more evenly matched.

14. Hiyu Yamakoshi Japan, 19
2025: 9th in Super Formula Lights, 9th in FREC, 12th in Macau GP, 16th in FRME, 19th in GB3   2024: 3rd in Italian F4

Yamakoshi is embarking on a fourth year with VAR, and has grown during his time with the team. He was a frontrunner in F4 and in a packed 2025 got on the FREC podium twice, but oddly went from scoring 78 points in the season’s first half to only eight in the second. His attentions were perhaps too spread out as the year went on, since he also got experience of third-tier single-seaters in a Super Formula Lights cameo on home soil and did three GB3 rounds.

15. Enzo Deligny France, 17
2025: 3rd in Macau GP, 3rd in FREC, 5th in FRME   2024: 4th in Macau GP, 12th in FREC, 8th in UAE4   2023: 4th in Spanish F4

A surprise addition at VAR, since Deligny originally signed with Prema for 2026 and only altered his plans a month ago. The opportunity to switch teams only came about after Jesse Carrasquedo Jr vacated a seat he had secured last September. Deligny steps up to F3 after a very strong 2025 with R-ace GP in FRegional. He won a race in FRME, took four wins, five other podiums and four poles to be third in FREC, and fought for Macau GP victory.

16. Bruno del Pino Spain, 19
2025: 23rd in FIA F3   2024: 3rd in Eurocup-3, 16th in FRME   2023: 7th in Eurocup-3, 32nd in FREC   2022: 16th in Spanish F4

Del Pino was the weak link in MP’s 2025 line-up, but still made the podium. He swaps one Dutch team for another, and ends a three-year run at MP, to join VAR for his sophomore F3 season. In the one championship where del Pino has done more than one season, Eurocup-3, he became far more competitive in year two.

Rodin Motorsport

The team that took over the assets of Carlin did not take long to be competitive across single-seaters in a way that means it is well established under its own name now. Last year was its most impressive in this paddock since Carlin’s 2015 GP3 season, but there is still plenty to improve on with an all-new line-up.

17. Pedro Clerot Brazil, 19
2025: 4th in FREC   2024: 8th in FREC, 28th in FRME   2023: 6th in Spanish F4, 13th in UAE4   2022: Brazilian F4 champion

Although he already has five years of single-seater experience, Clerot will be an F3 rookie in 2026. But as he graduates from VAR’s FREC squad, he knows many of F3’s circuits well. He was eighth in FREC’s 2024 season with two podiums, then doubled his points tally and more than tripled his podium count in 2025 as he came fourth in the standings with two victories and three poles. He matched Deligny on points, and the campaign massively enhanced his reputation in Europe.

18. Brando Badoer Italy, 19
2025: 25th in FIA F3, 4th in FRME   2024: 5th in FREC, 10th in FRME   2023: 6th in Italian F4, 6th in E4, 6th in UAE4

Badoer’s up-and-down 2025 was both his first and his last as a McLaren junior. He came fourth in FRME with PHM Racing, winning once (the sole victory of his single-seater career), then driving for the once-mighty Prema he was 25th in F3 with 13 points. He scored at Spa and the Hungaroring only, and was routinely outperformed by his team-mates. Prema was struggling though, and moving to Rodin should put Badoer in a more competitive position from the off.

19. Christian Ho Singapore, 19
2026: 12th in FRME   2025: 22nd in FIA F3   2024: Eurocup-3 champion   2023: 2nd in Spanish F4   2022: 13th in Spanish F4

Ho could be a dark horse for 2026 based on what he achieved while driving for DAMS. He was Spanish F4 runner-up and Eurocup-3 champion with Campos, winning 11 races across those two years, then had to make do with only two weekends of being in the points as an F3 rookie in 2025. He brought in over half of DAMS’ points, made the top five in a feature race, and has begun 2026 by winning in his part-time FRME campaign.

Prema

During the six seasons that the Dallara F3 2019 was in use, Prema ran three champions, won five teams’ titles (including one by over 300 points) and 37 races. The introduction of the car’s successor marked Prema’s first win-free season and before it claimed four podiums in the last six races it was averaging 2.38 points per race. A bounceback seems unlikely based on the off-season chaos that has surrounded the team through its ownership change, loss of engineering staff and potential IndyCar exit. Yet while Prema has already lost one of its F3 drivers for 2026, its line-up has quashed any doom-mongering about the team.

20. Louis Sharp New Zealand/England, 18
2026: 3rd in FRegional Oceania   2025: 26th in FIA F3   2024: GB3 champion   2023: British F4 champion

Sharp ended 2022 by winning the United Arab Emirates’ Formula Trophy for F4 cars with Carlin, and staying with the team (which was succeeded by the Kiwi-owned Rodin) served him well as he won the British F4 and GB3 titles back-to-back. Although his rookie season in F3 last year was a challenge, he lacked the circuit experience that most of the field had. A bucket list item was ticked off at the start of 2026 as he raced on home soil in FRegional Oceania, winning once, which might be the highlight of his year if Prema struggles.

21. James Wharton Australia, 19
2026: 8th in FRegional Oceania   2025: 27th in F2, 18th in FIA F3   2024: 33rd in FIA F3, 2nd in FREC, 6th in FRME, 25th in GB3

Wharton was FREC runner-up with Prema in 2024 and hopes to rekindle previous successes by reuniting, but staffing changes at the team will have had at least some impact on that plan. The 19-year-old drove for ART GP last year and scored in four races, with victory in the Red Bull Ring sprint race his highlight. He too has raced in FRegional Oceania recently, but perhaps more helpful as an experience was the F2 cameo he made at Losail last November.

22. Jose Garfias Mexico, 21
2025: 4th in Euroformula, 37th in FIA F3, 10th in Macau GP   2024: 7th in Euroformula, 10th in Eurocup-3, 27th in FRME

It is hard to gauge Garfias’s abilities due to his route up the single-seater ladder. He raced in GB3 and FREC back in 2021, took a year out then came fourth in Eurocup-3’s inaugural season. He was a part-timer in Eurocup-3 and the third-tier Euroformula in 2024, missing the podium in the former and not winning against a weak grid in the latter. Although he did win three times in Euroformula last year, the field was just as weak.

Hitech GP

Like at Prema, there have been major changes at Hitech in recent months including founder Oliver Oakes ceding control of the team to a Chinese investor. Last year was an oddity for its F3 squad, which had plenty to celebrate through Martinius Stenshorne who scored all but one of its points. He was fifth in the standings with two wins, three second places and the highest sprint race points haul in the field. But it was by far Hitech’s biggest season of underachievement.

23. Michael Shin South Korea, 21
2025: 3rd in Euroformula, 8th in FRegional Oceania, 24th in GB3   2024: 6th in Euroformula, 4th in FRegional Oceania

Shin last raced in FIA F3 back in 2023, going points-free in three rounds with PHM Racing, and has since raced for Euroformula dominator Motopark at this level. He won as a part-timer in 2024, then four times in 2025. The quality of the grid undermines the significance of those results, but the races he’s done there will have prepared him very well for his F3 return. Shin has also claimed podiums in three other championships over the last two years, so has shown he can perform against tougher opposition.

24. Fionn McLaughlin Ireland, 18
2026: 13th in FRegional Oceania   2025: British F4 champion, 3rd in FWinter Series, 13th in FIA F4 World Cup

The Red Bull junior heads to F3 with little over one year of car racing experience under his belt, and almost all of it with Hitech. He first made his mark in FWinter Series, winning on just his third start, then his title-winning British F4 campaign featured five victories and 15 podiums in total (including the non-championship F1 support races). His first experience of street circuits came at the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau, where he finished sixth on-the-road before being penalised. But high hopes for F3 should probably be muted since McLaughlin’s FRegional Oceania campaign last month featured no top-five results and he only knows two circuits.

25. Jin Nakamura Japan, 20
2026: 4th in FRegional Oceania   2025: 10th in FRME, 10th in FREC, 19th in Macau GP, 26th in Le Mans Cup – LMP3 class

Toyota protege Nakamura was Japanese F4 runner-up in 2023 then jumped up to SF Lights where he won a race, was a podium regular and came fourth in the standings. As part of Toyota’s single-seater driver development programme, it relocated him to Europe last year and that meant a step down to FRegional machinery. He was 10th in FREC and FRME, visiting the podium in both, and to prepare for F3 he joined Hitech in Oceania this year and was consistently competitive. Although he never won, Nakamura was routinely on the podium and finished second from pole in the New Zealand Grand Prix.

AIX Racing

The German-based outfit succeeded PHM on the grid, and did not pick up much experience with the old F3 car before having to tackle the new one. It chose to race under an Emirati license in 2025, and signed inexperienced drivers. Over half of its points were scored through cameos from Nikita Bedrin and Slater. The potential is clearly there to fight closer to the front, and it has experience in this year’s line-up that should help achieve that.

26. Brad Benavides USA, 24
2025: 20th in FIA F3   2024: Euroformula champion   2023: 22nd in F2, 29th in FRME   2022: 23rd in FIA F3

Benavides first raced in F3 in 2018 when he made his single-seater debut in Euroformula, and he also raced in the championship in 2021 and then 2024 when he won the title. In 2022 he joined the F1 support paddock with Carlin in FIA F3, and after scoring three points made an unexpected step up to F2. He was back in FIA F3 last year, albeit only from round three onwards, and outside of Euroformula only had four points in his single-seater career to speak of. But by the end of last season he had taken pole positions at two high-speed tracks and a fourth place in a feature race. Expect Benavides to fight for pole at every ‘power track’ in 2026.

27. Yevan David Sri Lanka, 18
2026: 10th in FRegional Oceania   2025: 2nd in Euroformula, 33rd in GB3   2024: NC in Euroformula, 19th in Eurocup-3

In a line-up made exclusively of Euroformula frontrunners, David perhaps has the best career momentum despite not really having proved himself elsewhere. His first year of car racing in 2024 was all about accumulating experience, which he did across two F4 championships, the Motorsport Games, Euroformula and Eurocup-3. He went full-time in Euroformula last year and fought for the title, racking up six wins and eight further podiums, then against stronger opposition in FRegional Oceania this January he was relatively anonymous in a two-car team being outperformed by the four-car squads.

28. Fernando Barrichello Brazil, 20
2025: 7th in Euroformula, 35th in FIA F3   2024: 3rd in Euroformula   2023: 5th in Brazilian F4, 17th in Spanish F4

The son of ex-F1 driver Rubens has a trend of stymied growth in his single-seater career already, in part due to incomplete sophomore campaigns. But his limited improvements have been evident anyway, and he will likely be his most competitive in F3 at the same tracks he was in Euroformula unless the driving style changes required for the F3 car alter the patterns and preferences built in the rival championship.

DAMS

DAMS competed in GP3 for two seasons (2016 and ’17), winning two races with Jake Hughes at the wheel, then was absent from the paddock until it joined the FIA F3 grid last year. It was a huge year of learning and building expertise, and involved only one driver with F3 experience. This time it has two, which should make the job of improving a lot easier regardless of those drivers’ credentials.

29. Niko Lacorte Italy, 18
2025: 33rd in FIA F3, 58th in IMSA – GTD class   2024: 10th in FRegional Oceania, 21st in FREC   2023: 9th in Italian F4

Although he missed a round, which was down to a race ban, Lacorte was effectively one of only two full-time drivers on the 2025 FIA F3 grid who failed to score. But he topped the final session of 2026 pre-season testing, and was 14th fastest overall, so sprint race points would be possible if he qualifies high enough to benefit from reversed grids and both he and DAMS make big gains with race pace after being among the worst on average in 2025.

30. Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi Thailand, 19
2025: 16th in FREC   2024: 26th in FREC   2023: 14th in F4 Central European Zone, 21st in E4, 21st in Italian F4, 31st in UAE4

Bhirombhakdi’s two years in F4, totalling 75 races, featured one top-five finish which was a podium from an F4 Central European Zone cameo. The two years that followed in FREC, totalling 40 races, also featured a single top-five result along with a few eighth and ninth places. Those points all came in his second season, so expectations will be modest for his rookie F3 campaign.

31. Gerrard Xie China, 19
2026: 25th in FRME   2025: 29th in FIA F3   2024: 11th in Euroformula, 7th in FRegional Oceania, 7th in GB3

Xie has flashes of pace that earn him top results, as shown in Euroformula, GB3 and FRegional Oceania. But he’s usually mired in the midfield, and in his rookie FIA F3 season with Hitech he was further back than that and only scored one point. However his time in GB3 also showed the gains he can make through a second season, so his challenging 2025 experience may set him up for a better 2026.