Silverstone, the next stronghold in Campos Racing’s defence of the championship leads
Believe it or not, the second half of the 2026 FIA Formula 3 season gets underway this weekend at Silverstone, venue of the fifth of the nine rounds that make up the calendar of the FIA’s third-tier single-seater category. In this new challenge, Campos Racing will aim to further consolidate the dominance it has displayed so far this year. Ugo Ugochukwu leads the drivers’ standings, Théophile Naël is third and Ernesto Rivera occupies eleventh position. All three drivers have already tasted victory this season, which helps explain why Campos Racing also sits at the top of the teams’ standings.
Ugochukwu continues to prove himself as one of the most effective drivers on the grid. Whenever circumstances allow, he delivers victories or podium finishes; when they do not, he maximises every available opportunity to score valuable points. The American claimed victory in the opening round of the season in Australia by winning Sunday’s feature race before recording fourth- and sixth-place finishes on the streets of Monaco. More recently, Ugochukwu has added two further podiums to his tally, finishing third in Barcelona and second at Spielberg. As a result, he leads the championship with 78 points.
Naël sits third in the standings with 52 points despite enduring a difficult weekend at the Red Bull Ring. The Frenchman, who has secured pole positions in Melbourne, Monte Carlo and Barcelona, was hampered by traffic during qualifying in Spielberg, forcing him to start from the back of the grid and severely limiting his chances of scoring points. Nevertheless, the victory achieved by Naël at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya should provide the blueprint for a return to normal service at Silverstone.
Rivera claimed his maiden FIA Formula 3 victory just a few days ago. The Mexican has enjoyed an outstanding start to his campaign. After missing part of pre-season testing and the opening round in Australia due to injury, Rivera scored his first points in Monaco before adding more in Barcelona. His real breakthrough, however, came in Austria, where the Red Bull Junior Team driver displayed remarkable maturity in the sprint race and managed it perfectly to climb to the top step of the podium. He currently sits eleventh in the championship with 26 points.
As mentioned previously, Campos Racing leads the teams’ standings with 156 points and holds a 47-point advantage over its nearest rival.
Silverstone is one of motorsport’s great cathedrals, not only in Great Britain but around the world. Built and inaugurated in the late 1940s on the site of a former Royal Air Force airfield used during the Second World War, it hosted the inaugural Formula 1 World Championship race in 1950. Since then, it has become a regular fixture on the calendars of the world’s leading championships, including FIA Formula 3. Measuring 5.891 kilometres in its current configuration, Silverstone presents a major challenge both for drivers, due to its high-speed corners, and for tyres, because of the significant lateral loads they must withstand. Cars typically run high levels of aerodynamic downforce, but that does little to reduce tyre stress and degradation. Combined with the often unpredictable British weather, these will undoubtedly be two key factors for drivers and engineers to monitor throughout the weekend.
Free practice will take place on Friday at 09:50, with qualifying scheduled for 15:00 later that afternoon. The sprint race will be held on Saturday at 10:35, while Sunday’s feature race is due to start at 09:25. All times quoted are CET.
Adrián Campos (Campos Racing Team Principal): “We arrive at Silverstone leading both championships, which is the clearest reflection of the excellent work being carried out by everyone in the team. We have been competitive at circuits with very different characteristics throughout the first half of the season and our objective is to maintain that level of performance at a demanding venue such as Silverstone. Ugo has shown outstanding consistency and an impressive ability to score points even during the most challenging weekends. Théophile has demonstrated exceptional pace all season long, particularly in qualifying, and we are confident he will once again be among the frontrunners. Ernesto, meanwhile, took a major step forward in Austria by securing his maiden victory and continues to improve race after race. We know there is still a long way to go in the championship, but we head into this weekend with confidence, ambition and the determination to further strengthen our lead in the teams’ standings while keeping our drivers at the forefront of the title fight.”
