Ugo Ugochukwu scores key points in Monza to maintain his title bid
Monza hosted the penultimate chapter of the 2026 FIA Formula 3 season this weekend, with Campos Racing and its drivers facing one of the toughest tests of the campaign. Despite this, the necessary points were secured to keep the team’s title ambitions at their highest with just seven days to go before the championship heads to the Madring. Ugo Ugochukwu, who endured a difficult Friday, completed an outstanding recovery drive on Sunday to fight his way into the points and remain firmly involved in the championship battle. Ernesto Rivera’s contribution, having been among the front-runners on Saturday, also allows Campos Racing to maintain a substantial advantage in the Teams’ Championship. Théophile Naël, like Ugochukwu hindered by what happened on Friday, experienced the less favourable side of racing this time around.
But Friday, as expected, was always going to be one of the biggest hurdles of the championship’s visit to Monza. In Free Practice, Rivera was the fastest of the Campos Racing representatives. The very young Red Bull Junior Team member stopped the clock at 1m37.901s, good enough for fifth place in the standings. Naël posted a personal best of 1m38.399s, although Ugochukwu was the main victim of that first encounter with the Italian circuit. The American was involved in an incident with another driver, resulting in the stewards imposing a five-place grid penalty for both races over the weekend.
In the afternoon, qualifying was split into two sessions for even- and odd-numbered cars, although this did not prevent many drivers from trying to deny their rivals a tow, resulting in the familiar trains and accordion effects throughout the session. In Group A, where Ugochukwu was placed, the American was unable to find his best feeling around Monza and could not improve on a 1m39.039s lap, leaving him tenth in that group’s classification. In Group B, and also with effectively just one lap to set a representative time, Rivera produced a 1m38.360s lap to finish third in the session and secure fifth place on the grid for Sunday. A lock-up at the first chicane by Naël, which saw him exceed track limits, ruined his attempt and left him condemned to start from the back of the field.
Saturday’s Sprint Race was scheduled for 18 laps, with track temperatures already above 30 ºC early in the day. On the reverse grid, Rivera lined up eighth, while Ugochukwu and Naël started 23rd and 28th respectively. When the lights went out, Rivera immediately gained one position and overtook another rival to run sixth at the end of the opening lap. Racing at Monza, where the field invariably runs in close formation, produced the first incident at the front on lap four, taking Fernando Barrichello and Brando Badoer out of the race and prompting the deployment of the Safety Car. By then, Rivera had already moved up to third behind Alessandro Giusti and Pedro Clerot. Racing resumed two laps later, although Taito Kato dived down the inside of Rivera under braking for the first chicane, dropping the Mexican to fourth. There were further interruptions, first a VSC to remove a car stopped on track following a technical issue and, shortly afterwards, another Safety Car following an accident at the Variante del Rettifilo. The restart on lap 14 was another difficult moment for Rivera. After he had already regained the position from Kato, the latter closed the door, causing the Campos Racing driver to lose another place to Freddie Slater. The Mexican eventually crossed the finish line in seventh. Naël built momentum as the race progressed and narrowly missed out on points in 11th place. Ugochukwu, meanwhile, finished 13th after another race packed with overtaking moves from the American.
Sunday brought the third and final day of action in Monza, with the Feature Race scheduled for 22 laps. With temperatures continuing to rise and already exceeding 30 ºC on the track, another demanding test of tyre and race management was in prospect. As soon as the lights went out, Rivera made his move on Kato to move into fourth place. By the end of the opening lap, Naël and Ugochukwu had already climbed into the top 20. Unfortunately, Ugochukwu was involved in an incident at the first chicane and dropped back to the rear of the field, although fortunately his car remained undamaged. Up front, Rivera was showing strong pace and moved into third place on lap three after overtaking Nicola Lacorte, shortly before the Safety Car made its first appearance following an accident. Racing resumed after two laps, with Kato and Lacorte using Rivera’s slipstream to overtake him. Unfortunately, the battle proved costly for Rivera, as another driver made contact with his front wing, causing it to come loose and forcing him into the pits. Naël suffered an identical fate moments later, bringing his hopes of a strong result to an end as well.
By the halfway point, Ugochukwu had climbed back to 16th and, more importantly, was beginning to close in on Slater, his title rival, who was dropping down the order. Rivera’s retirement, after his car came to a halt on track due to an issue, prompted another Safety Car period at precisely the same time as Slater also retired on lap 14. With five laps remaining, the green flags flew once again and Ugochukwu launched his final attack, moving into the points with three laps to go. In the closing stages, he also overtook Mattia Colnaghi, securing eighth place and four crucial championship points. After his eventful race, Naël crossed the finish line in 17th.
With just one round remaining, Ugochukwu sits second in the Drivers’ Championship on 126 points, 15 behind Slater. Rivera moves up to third with 76 points, one ahead of Naël, who is fourth. In the Teams’ Championship, Campos Racing will head to the Spanish capital with 277 points, compared with Trident’s 213 in second place.
The cancellation of the race originally scheduled to take place in Sakhir means that next week’s event at the Madring will be an unusual one, featuring three races — one Sprint and two Feature Races — as well as two qualifying sessions, all of which will play a role in crowning the champions of this exciting 2026 season.
