Ugochukwu beats Slater to win first FIA F3 feature race of 2026

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Ugo Ugochukwu claimed his maiden FIA Formula 3 victory in the feature race in Melbourne.

The first feature race of the season ended behind the safety car after a late race incident for Michael Shin.

Campos Racing driver Ugochukwu had a gap of over seven seconds when the safety car was brought out with three laps remaining. He wasn’t forced to defend a last lap challenge from Freddie Slater, as the incident couldn’t be cleared in time for the race to restart. 

Ugochukwu initially slipped backwards after starting second on the grid. Slater made the best start from third and shot into second. He also managed to get alongside pole-sitter Theophile Nael, but Nael held onto the lead.

When the Drag Reduction System was activated, Ugochukwu was close enough behind Slater to take second, and then charged after team-mate Nael. He passed to take the race lead on lap four

The two Campos Racing drivers and Slater stayed together but, before Slater could challenge, the safety car was brought out after Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi had gone off at Turn 12 and come to a stop alongside the barriers.

Racing resumed on lap 12 but the order remained the same at the top of the order. Ugochukwu gradually pulled away from Nael, who had Slater and Noah Stromsted on his tail.

Nael defended strongly, despite picking up a five-second penalty for a false start. The defence allowed Ugochukwu to pull even further away before Slater finally found a way through for second. 

Before Slater could close the gap to the leader, an incident further down the order brought out hte second safety car of the day.

Brando Badoer and Matteo de Palo had been fighting further down the order when they made slight wheel-to-wheel contact. De Palo was sent into a spin but managed to continue. As he rejoined the track, Shin took to the outside to try to get around de Palo. There wasn’t enough grip for Shin to hold on, and the Hitech driver made heavy contact with the barriers and came to a stop on track.

With the race ending behind the safety car, Nael’s penalty caused him to tumble down the order. He finished third on track but 12th in the corrected timings. Stromsted also had a penalty of 10s, having been deemed at fault for an earlier incident while battling with Nicola Lacorte. Lacorte also had a five-second penalty for a start infringement.

Taito Kato was promoted to third place on his debut F3 weekend, ahead of sprint race winner Bruno del Pino, who slipped backwards at the start but stayed out of trouble to recover to fourth. 

Kato’s ART Grand Prix team-mate Maciej Gładysz had a strong start to the race, and was running fourth after the first safety car. He slipped backwards through the second half of the race, but the penalties meant he finished fifth, followed by Enzo Deligny and Brad Benavides. 

Pedro Clerot, Jin Nakamaura and Mattia Colnaghi complete the top 10.

Prema withdrew both James Wharton and Louis Sharp prior to the race following their heavy collision in Saturday’s sprint contest, with the team citing medical advice.

Race results (23 laps)