Noah Strømsted came out on top in one of the most exciting Formula 3 races to date. The Dane bided his time as the action unfolded all around him, taking the lead with three laps to go and never looking back. After a memorable fight throughout the entire race, Ugo Ugochukwu and Freddie Slater rounded out the podium.

By Daniele Spadi

Polesitter Hiyu Yamakoshi had to cut across Ugochukwu to defend first position after the lights went out, compromising his exit from Turn 1 with the narrower line he took. This manoeuvre enabled the championship leader to take the lead on the run up to Turn 3, with Yamakoshi settling for second.

Third was Strømsted, ahead of Slater and Tuukka Taponen, who lost out to both Trident teammates by taking the outside line at Turn 3.

Green-flag racing was short-lived, however, as the safety car came out halfway through the opening lap. Contact at Turn 1 between Maciej Gładysz and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi sent the former out wide, collecting Yevan David in the process. Gładysz and David retired on the spot, while Bhirombhakdi fell to the rear of the field. 

Yesterday’s sprint winner Ernesto Rivera independently spun on the inside at the exit of the same corner and joined Bhirombhakdi at the back.

The safety car was withdrawn at the end of lap three, and the battling quickly resumed. Slater launched an attack and went around the outside of his teammate into Turn 3, getting a great exit to overtake Yamakoshi on the run down to Turn 4 as well.

The Audi junior went on to set the fastest lap of the race, but as he looked to set up a move on Ugochukwu on lap five, a virtual safety car period was called as contact between Michael Shin and Fernando Barrichello at the exit of Turn 4 forced both drivers to stop on track.

As the virtual safety car ended on lap seven, Taponen’s reactions were quicker than Strømsted’s, and he slingshotted past the Dane towards Turn 4 to move up to fourth. Strømsted wasn’t done yet, though, and used DRS effectively to dive up the inside of the Finn into Turn 3 a lap later.

Meanwhile, Slater looked to have the pace on the rest of the field and took the lead from Ugochukwu on the inside into Turn 3 on lap nine. Yamakoshi tried to follow suit, but the American was able to fend him off on the outside line and keep second that time. The overtake then came two laps later, when Yamakoshi replicated Slater’s overtake to take the American by surprise and slot into second.

Thanks to the 4.326-kilometre circuit’s three consecutive DRS zones, drivers in positions one through 12 were all inside DRS range to the car in front, and a train began to form by mid-race. The first to shake up the order was Taito Kato, who stuck his nose up the inside of Alessandro Giusti for sixth into the penultimate corner on lap 16. The Williams junior ran wide, dropping to ninth behind yesterday’s podium finishers Jin Nakamura and Pedro Clerot. Kato then moved up to fifth past Taponen on lap 18 into Turn 3.

Up front, Ugochukwu looked for a way past Yamakoshi, though the Van Amersfoort Racing driver held him off time after time. The overtake ultimately came on lap 19, when the Campos Racing star forced Yamakoshi’s hand by going all the way to the inside into Turn 4 to get the move done.

At the end of lap 20, Slater dipped two wheels on the gravel exiting Turn 9, thus compromising his line through the final corner. Ugochukwu then timed his attacks and chose his lines to have the best chance towards Turn 4, and though the American nosed ahead with a great run on the outside, Slater managed to outbrake his rival, maintaining the lead.

Ugochukwu went for the same move the following lap, this time making it stick and moving into first. Behind them, Strømsted was able to take Yamakoshi for third, with Kato right behind the two.

On lap 23, Slater went through on Ugochukwu once more into Turn 4, now around the outside. This time, however, the two protagonists touched, with the American’s front wing being damaged in the process.

The championship leader then tried to make up the ground lost into Turn 6, but his look to the inside compromised his line and opened the door for Strømsted to move up to second. The Dane now suddenly had DRS on his race-leading teammate, and he moved past and into the lead around the outside of Turn 4 the next time by.

The fight for second position was as intense as it could have been on the 26th and final lap of the race. Ugochukwu went for the move on the run down to Turn 4, dipping two tyres on the grass in the process. Slater went for the switchback on the exit, and the two touched wheels.

Slater then forced Ugochukwu on the grass, but the American refused to back down from the fight and sent it up the inside into Turn 6, barely making it stick. Slater then looked to pounce on the run to the penultimate corner – but he ran wide at the exit of Turn 7 and slid into the gravel with his right-side tyres, losing vital ground as he tried to catch the subsequent snap of oversteer.

Just like that, perhaps the feistiest on-track battle of the season so far came to a close. The real winner of this blockbuster brawl, however, was Strømsted. The Trident driver crossed the line with a deceptively large 1.373-second advantage to take his second victory in the series – his first in a feature race after he triumphed in the sprint at Spa-Francorchamps last season – and become the eighth different winner from eight races this season.

Ugochukwu came through for second, while Slater settled for third, securing the first double Trident podium since that 2025 Spa race. The intensity wasn’t reserved for second place, however, with a tremendous five-car battle to decide who would come in fourth.

Just as happened yesterday, it was Clerot who came out victorious late on. The Brazilian went from eighth all the way to fourth on the penultimate lap, a charge highlighted by a marvellous double overtake around the outside of Turn 6 on both Nakamura and Kato. The two Japanese drivers then finished fifth and sixth respectively.

Seventh belonged to Taponen, with Yamakoshi taking eighth, a disappointing outcome considering he started from pole position. Nicola Lacorte scored the first points of his F3 career by finishing in ninth, with Kanato Le rounding out the top 10.

Championship contenders Théophile Naël and Bruno Del Pino both failed to score points, finishing in 16th and 18th respectively. The result marks Del Pino’s first non-score this season after he was elevated to 10th by Le’s post-race disqualification yesterday. Naël also set the fastest lap of the race but could not claim the associated bonus point, which instead went to Strømsted.

Ugochukwu has therefore extended his championship lead to 16 points, with Slater moving up to second and Naël falling to third, 26 points behind Ugochukwu, after a scoreless weekend.

Strømsted’s strongest weekend of the season lifted him to sixth, while also aiding Trident in their climb up the teams’ standings. The Italian team are still 53 points behind 2025 rivals Campos Racing, but they now have only six fewer points than Van Amersfoort Racing.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency