Formula 3 has returned for the second round of the 2026 championship after an abnormal gap in the calendar with racing halted for almost three months. Ahead of this weekend’s round in Monaco, Feeder Series spoke to drivers Théophile Naël, Noah Strømsted and Maciej Gładysz on returning to racing after such a long break at such a demanding track. 

By Tori Turner

The second round of the 2026 championship was originally due to be held in Bahrain from 10 to 12 April but was cancelled shortly after the first round in Melbourne because of the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. This subsequently affected the in-season test, which was also set to take place in Bahrain from 25 to 27 March. 

F3 is no stranger to calendar breaks, with the original schedule setting a six-week gap between round two in Bahrain and round three in Monaco. The 2025 season had more consistent breaks in the championship, as the first three rounds were split by about a month each. The removal of Imola from the calendar has resulted in more lengthy intermissions between races, which have only been exacerbated by the cancellation of Bahrain.

To fill the 12-week gap between rounds, F3 organised an in-season test at the Red Bull Ring on 20 and 21 May. This allowed the drivers to get back up to speed with their cars before they tackled the challenging streets of Monte Carlo two weeks later.

“We just had a massive break between Melbourne and Monaco, so to come straight to Monaco, it’s not going to be an easy test, but we went to the Red Bull Ring for a wake-up test, so that was good,” Naël told Feeder Series. “Still, it’s very far to the Monaco track, especially with the soft compound and the low mileage that we are going to have this weekend as well.

“I think the key will be to be straight and comfortable with the car. We only have one session per day so we have plenty of time to check data and videos for quali on Friday.”

The Campos driver achieved the first pole position of the season in Melbourne but failed to score any points after qualifying. With the shortened sprint race, the top five rather than the top 10 scored points, and he received a five-second penalty for jumping the start in the feature race, which dropped him from third on track to 12th. 

Naël set the 15th-fastest time of the Spielberg in-season test with a 1:20.820. Naël’s teammate, Melbourne feature race winner and points leader Ugo Ugochukwu, emerged as the strongest Campos driver after setting a timesheet-topping 1:20.368 on the first day, good enough for fourth overall.

Trident’s Strømsted appeared as one to beat throughout the test, topping the times during the afternoon session of day one with a 1:20.451 and finishing with the third-fastest time of the entire test with his 1:20.336 in the day two morning session. This follows a promising if solid start to the season in Melbourne, where he crossed the line fourth in both races but tumbled to 23rd in the feature race after receiving a penalty for contact.

“It will be a bit difficult getting into the race weekend again, especially here as it’s only one session per day,” Strømsted said about the Monaco round’s format, which places free practice on Thursday as opposed to Friday before qualifying as is standard. “Tomorrow we’ll just be trying to build in the FP and trying to understand the grip and how much the track is going to change overnight to the qualifying.”

Unlike Strømsted and Naël, who have both raced around the streets of Monaco before, many drivers are heading into the weekend with the added difficulty of experiencing the circuit for the first time. Some rookies, such as ART Grand Prix’s Gładysz, are stepping up to the challenge having never even driven a street circuit such as Macau before.

“It will be my first time driving a street track,” Gładysz said. “I’ve never been to Macau, so it will be a big test for me, but I’m really looking forward to it. It will be important to bring the car back to the tent after FP, just to not make any silly mistakes in the first push and just build the momentum step by step and then get as much information for quali so I can hopefully qualify well.”

Free practice for F3 takes place tomorrow from 13:25 to 14:10 local ahead of a split qualifying session Friday with 16-minute segments, the first at 11:05 and the second at 11:29. Strømsted will be in the first group, while Naël and Gładysz will be part of the second.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency