Nearly half of the drivers on the 2026 Formula 3 grid warmed up for their main campaign by racing in winter championships throughout January and February. Feeder Series spoke to drivers who competed in the renamed Formula Regional Oceania Trophy about how their experiences have prepared them for the upcoming season.

By Tori Turner

When the lights finally go green in Melbourne for the first race of the 2026 F3 season, it will have been exactly six months since the season finale in Monza, where we last saw on-track racing action in F1’s third-tier support series.

The long off-season period means that drivers spend several months away from competing, although many return to racing as soon as the new year starts in the form of winter series campaigns. 

For the 2026 season, 12 out of the 30 drivers on the grid chose to race in either FR Oceania or FR Middle East, two of the most popular series held over the winter months. Other championships, such as the Formula Winter Series, are also held throughout this period, but they attract drivers who are less advanced in their junior single-seater careers.

FR Oceania was by far the most sought-after championship this year among F3 drivers, with nine of 30 drivers on the 2026 grid competing. Those numbers represent a massive increase relative to 2025, when Matías Zagazeta was the only full-season F3 driver to compete, and 2024, when F3 drivers Christian Mansell and Tommy Smith entered the first three rounds before leaving for pre-season testing for their main series.

The series underwent an overhaul for 2026, switching to the FIA Regional Trophy format as it reduced the number of rounds from five to four and added a fourth race to most events. The changes meant that while the series offered roughly the same amount of race mileage as in previous years, the season ended earlier than usual, eliminating any clashes with F3’s pre-season test and allowing drivers to partake in all rounds of their winter campaigns.

Both rookie and returning F3 drivers took part in FR Oceania, with returnee Ugo Ugochukwu taking the title ahead of rookie Freddie Slater. Fellow F3 drivers Louis Sharp and Jin Nakamura rounded out the top four in the standings.

Before he began his campaign, Sharp was awarded the Tony Quinn Foundation scholarship, granting him $NZ 100,000 for his entry in the series. The English-born New Zealander’s 2026 entry marked his first time racing in his home country in four years after having last competed in New Zealand for the 2021–22 South Island Formula Ford series. The campaign kicked off an important year for the 18-year-old, who has switched to Prema Racing after having competed with Rodin Motorsport, previously Carlin Motorsport, for four years.

After a challenging 2025 spent in F3 that yielded only three points finishes, Sharp rebounded in FR Oceania, capturing one win at Hampton Downs and a further four podiums from 15 races. Those results have filled him with confidence for what the rest of 2026 holds.

“It’s definitely been pretty helpful,” Sharp told Feeder Series during the third round at Teretonga Park. “Being here racing in a championship before my main campaign is a huge bonus. Also, racing against such great competition – a third of the F3 grid is here – so racing against the competition before I get the chance to race against them in my main campaign’s been awesome. I think at the end of these four weeks, I’m definitely going to be more prepared.” 

Winter series experience is especially beneficial for those who are exploring new territory by switching teams. Ahead of his debut in F3, Jin Nakamura began his partnership with his new team Hitech for the New Zealand–based championship. After getting his career started in Japan, he moved overseas and competed with R-ace GP in FRegional Middle East, FRegional Europe and the Le Mans Cup’s LMP3 class in 2025. 

“Just exploring new tracks, and how I should work with Hitech,” Nakamura told Feeder Series about why he entered FR Oceania. “It’s our first time working together, so it’s our priority. Also, Hitech will know what kind of driver [I am], so I can improve how fast I am. It will be good for our relationship.”

For AIX Racing’s Yevan David, the former Toyota Racing Series has helped him develop more general skills that apply to his rookie F3 campaign. The 18-year-old Sri Lankan driver finished 10th in the final championship standings, with his best result of fifth coming at Teretonga Park. 

“Driving on a track with 20 other cars, you have to be very on it to get track position and get a lap in qualifying, because in F3 especially, we only get two to three laps.” David told Feeder Series at Teretonga. “Here we get more laps but the tracks are quite tight, so it’s taught me a lot about that. We also have four races a weekend, so managing tyres, doing these overtakes as well.

“We have push-to-pass here, which isn’t exactly the same, but we have DRS in F3, so doing these kinds of things is what’s really prepared me. And also back-to-back weekends — in F3, we have a lot of double-headers, triple headers. So pretty much everything about TRS has helped a lot for F3.”

Additional reporting by Kaylene Lau

Header photo credit: Joel Hanks