Théophile Naël took his maiden Formula 3 pole position at the 2026 season opener in Melbourne, stealing it at the last second from the hands of his teammate Ugo Ugochukwu and securing a one-two finish for Campos Racing. Feeder Series spoke to Naël, Ugochukwu and third-placed Freddie Slater about their hopes for the rest of the weekend.

By Daniele Spadi

Campos Racing looked quick right from free practice on Friday morning, placing two cars in the top four. Ugochukwu set the pace as the sole driver to dip under the 1m35s barrier with a 1:34.607, while Naël was fourth.

The two then fought for pole in a closely contested session that saw the top 13 drivers covered by less than half a second around the 5.278-kilometre circuit. This time, however, it was reigning Macau Grand Prix winner Naël who got the better of his teammate, earning his maiden pole in the series thanks to his final qualifying lap.

After a dominant free practice display, Ugochukwu was also the quickest off the blocks in qualifying, setting a 1:34.208 to vault to the top of the table after the opening runs. The 18-year-old was four tenths faster than the rest of the field, with Trident drivers Noah Strømsted and Slater sitting in second and third respectively.

It wasn’t the easiest of starts for Naël, who was originally in fourth but had his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits in Turn 6, thus dropping to last after the first run.

As those runs came to a close, proceedings were halted with 20:12 remaining after Matteo De Palo, fifth at the time, had a snap of oversteer through Turn 10 while running wide and hit the wall on the exit. The incident put a premature end to his qualifying efforts, and as the cause of the red flag, the McLaren junior lost his fastest lap too, dropping him from 23rd at the flag to 30th and last at the time of publication.

The session restarted eight minutes later, with everyone opting to go out for their second runs right away. Amongst them, Ugochukwu was improving on his own provisional pole time and even set a session-best middle sector – until he too ran wide at Turn 10 and smashed one of the polystyrene boards on the exit of the corner. The impact broke his front wing, and he aborted the lap and pitted to replace the damaged wing.

Some drivers were still able to improve. James Wharton shot up to second, still four tenths behind Ugochukwu, while Naël slotted into fourth after most drivers had pitted. ART Grand Prix rookie Maciej Gładysz also rose to sixth, just two tenths shy of the front row.

The third and final runs came in the last nine minutes. With Ugochukwu failing to improve, the door was open for others to leave their mark. Both Slater and Wharton set purple sectors throughout their lap, but neither beat Ugochukwu. The former took second, just 61 thousandths behind the American, while the latter lost out in the final sector and did not improve on his 1:34.621.

In the pre-event media roundtable on Thursday, both Slater and Wharton spoke to Feeder Series about the pressure drivers face in qualifying, especially ahead of their final runs.

“It’s not easy trying to maximise every lap, and especially the one at the end,” Ugochukwu said. “A small mistake can be very costly, so there is definitely a little bit of pressure for everyone.

“When you know you’re in the right position, you know what you have to do, and it becomes quite easy. You’re just kind of fine-tuning braking point here or speed over there, and at the end it’s not too bad. You’re just focusing on maximising what you have, and you don’t really think of too many other thoughts.”

Slater, an F3 rookie, had a different perspective.

“[It’s] a bit of a new experience for me, but honestly, when that feeling happens in qualifying, it’s just excitement for me,” he explained to Feeder Series.

“It’s a very special thing to now be on that fine line of one push lap. But when the car comes alive, when the fuel is low and everything comes together, it is one of the best feelings in the world. For me, it’s just excitement to try and deliver and maximise everything you have at that time.”

When the dust seemed to have settled – and Ugochukwu looked to have pole position secured – it was Naël’s time to steal the show. He failed to improve on his previous best in sector one, putting even his 11th place at risk. But then he set the fastest middle sector of the entire session and a personal best final sector. When the curtain fell on his lap, he was out front with a 1:34.187, improving on his teammate’s time by just 21 thousandths.

That performance sealed the Frenchman’s first pole in the series and the start he dreamed of on his quest to become an F3 champion in 2026. To do that, he will have to find a way to carve through the field on days like tomorrow, when he starts down in 12th for the sprint. For now, his main goal is to learn as much as possible ahead of the decisive feature race on Sunday.

“My mindset for tomorrow is to see how the tyres develop, to have a clearer idea for Sunday [for the] feature race,” Naël told Feeder Series in the post-qualifying press conference. “I’m going to try to move up the standings but take it easy and take it safe. The sprint race is always a bit chaotic, so starting from 12th, it’s going to be a fun race.”

Though he seemed to have the pace to take pole, Ugochukwu had to settle for second, putting him on the front row on Sunday and 11th tomorrow.

“The sprint race is usually quite chaotic, with a bit slower cars in front,” he said. “I’m sure there’ll be lots of overtakes, and I’ll do my best to go up the field and pick up as many points as possible, and at the same time learn as much as possible for Sunday.”

Audi development driver Slater missed out on pole by 0.082 seconds. Having made two guest appearances in the series last season, he is set to start his first race as a full-time F3 driver from 10th tomorrow.

“For me, it’s just about learning the tyre,” the Briton told Feeder Series. “That’s just kind of the main focus for tomorrow, to try and get a bit of an understanding of how it’s going to work, especially for Sunday, because obviously that’s the main race. I’m sure it’s going to be very crazy, from previous years that I’ve seen of replays. I’m just excited to get going now, and it should be good fun.”

Naël was not the only one to improve significantly after the chequered flag was waved. A fantastic last-second effort from Gładysz lifted him to fourth, 0.267s off Naël, confirming the pace he had shown earlier in the session. And out of nowhere, Nicola Lacorte climbed to fifth with his final lap, recording his best qualifying result in the series.

Sixth was Red Bull junior Mattia Colnaghi, with MP Motorsport quick to intervene on his car after his engine went up in smoke at the end of free practice. ART were the only team other than Campos to put two cars inside the top eight with Taito Kato taking seventh.

Wharton put Prema Racing up in eighth in their first F3 qualifying session since their leadership overhaul, while Brando Badoer – who was part of the Italian outfit’s 2025 F3 line-up – finished in ninth for Rodin Motorsport. After a strong start, Strømsted was unable to improve on his final run, dropping to 10th by the end of the 30-minute session.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Deligny was 11th, with his teammate Bruno Del Pino right behind him in 12th. This means that the Dutch outfit will have two cars on the front row of the grid for tomorrow’s sprint race, with the Spaniard set to start from top spot thanks ot the reversal of today’s top 12.

Campos’ third driver – Patrick Heuzenroeder, substituting for the injured Ernesto Rivera – qualified 24th on his F3 debut at home but inherited a position with the deletion of De Palo’s fastest lap time.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency