Formula 3’s trip to Budapest before the summer break marked the last use of the usual 30-minute qualifying session this season, with the next two rounds utilising two different formats. Feeder Series spoke to Ernesto Rivera, Mattia Colnaghi and James Wharton on the need for split qualifying sessions at certain tracks and the distinct challenges they will face next weekend in Madrid.

By Tori Turner

The penultimate round of the 2026 F3 season marks the return of the two-group qualifying format last used at Monaco earlier in the season. The format was first introduced when the series debuted around the streets of Monte Carlo in 2023 and has been a staple since.

In 2024, the split session was also added as a feature of the Monza race weekend ‘to ensure better conditions during the qualifying session’. It was retained in 2025 with the length of each half shortened by three minutes.

Following the usual procedure, the 30 drivers will be split into two groups based on whether their cars run with odd or even numbers. Group A, featuring the even-numbered cars, will go first, followed by Group B with the odd-numbered cars. Following the two sessions, the group with the fastest time will line up in the odd-numbered spots on the grid, with the slower group occupying the even-numbered spots. 

“We’ve seen that in Monaco the groups help a lot because the track is very tight and there’s little space,” Rivera told Feeder Series about the differences in approaching the format at two different circuits. “Here, it will be an exciting qualifying session as it has always been in Monza, playing the slipstream game and searching for good track position. That’s the best we can do to avoid such a mess with the two groups, and it will be an exciting quali only having one or two push laps.”

All three drivers competed in the same qualifying group in Monaco as they run odd car numbers. After missing out on the opening round in Melbourne because of an injury, Campos Racing’s Rivera impressed on debut, finishing third in the group, 0.411s away from pole position, whilst Prema Racing’s Wharton and MP Motorsport’s Colnaghi finished 13th and 14th in group respectively.

“It’s interesting to see the format back for Monza,” rookie driver Colnaghi said. “It makes complete sense seeing the slipstream game we do play here and on other circuits such as Spa. Seeing the messy qualifying session that was at Spa, it’s good to implement the two groups and hopefully it’s a bit of a calmer one.

“Tow is very important at a circuit like Monza, so I do think that we will still be looking for it. Hopefully, less cars being on the track at once will help.”

Group A	Group B
Ugo Ugochukwu (#2)	Théophile Naël (#1)
Noah Strømsted (#4)	Ernesto Rivera (#3)
Matteo De Palo (#6)	Freddie Slater (#5)
Tuukka Taponen (#8)	Mattia Colnaghi (#7)
Taito Kato (#10)	Alessandro Giusti (#9)
Kanato Le (#12)	Maciej Gładysz (#11)
Hiyu Yamakoshi (#14)	Enzo Deligny (#15)
Bruno Del Pino (#16)	Pedro Clerot (#17)
Brando Badoer (#18)	Christian Ho (#19)
Alex Powell (#20)	James Wharton (#21)
José Garfias (#22)	Michael Shin (#23)
Fionn McLaughlin (#24)	Jin Nakamura (#25)
Ricardo Escotto (#26)	Yevan David (#27)
Fernando Barrichello (#28)	Nicola Lacorte (#29)
Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi (#30)	Gerrard Xie (#31)

The seventh round of the season, held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, saw 10 drivers penalised for driving unnecessarily slowly, leaving the track and gaining an advantage, or causing a collision. The chaos that resulted in these sanctions stemmed from drivers’ decision to slow down in an attempt to gain a tow around the longest circuit in the calendar.

This issue left many pondering if the split qualifying format, which aims to reduce congestion, would be a more suitable option for the track. Similar questions had been raised prior to the change in format in Monza.

However, the format has not always proved to be useful in combating traffic, with the previous two attempts in Monza resulting in just as much disorder, if not more.

“There are very different reasons why we have the groups in Monaco and why we have the groups in Monza,” second-year F3 driver Wharton said. “It’s such a game to get a slipstream. I’m not sure if the groups help too much on a track like Monza, but at the same time it’s got to always be a little bit of a game and it shortens the qualifying session. 

“We’re probably only going to get one push [lap], which is obviously tough, and the tough part about F3 is the limited laps, so having a one-push quali is never easy. It definitely makes it more exciting for the fans and the racing this year with the extra DRS zone. It’s going to be quite impressive to watch.” 

After completing their laps in Monza, the drivers swiftly move on to the final round of the season at the 5.412-kilometre Madring, where they will face an entirely new qualifying format. The new street circuit will host three races rather than two to make up for the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix and its support races earlier this season. 

To accommodate the extra race, there will be two consecutive 20-minute qualifying sessions on Friday afternoon. The first session will set the grid for Saturday’s sprint race and feature race, with the second session determining the grid for Sunday’s feature race.

“It will be a very interesting qualifying format as if you crash in quali one, basically your weekend is over because you will start last in both races or close to last in the first sprint race and feature,” Rivera said. “It will be very important to keep it clean in Q1 and maybe risk it a bit more in Q2. Because the track is also super tight, it’s very, very easy to crash when you’re going to the limit.”

Towards the end of the summer break on 24 and 25 August, the 30 drivers were able to gain invaluable experience around the latest addition to the calendar two weeks before the demanding season finale. Championship contender Ugo Ugochukwu set the fastest lap of the in-season test, a 1:49.034. Rivera, currently fourth in the drivers’ standings, finished in the top five in three out of the four sessions and placed fourth on combined times. Fellow Red Bull junior Colnaghi, who is 14th in the standings, was 14th in the combined classification, whilst Wharton was 21st.

“The biggest challenge is going to be calibrating how much to push in quali one,” Colnaghi added. “You want to get a good lap as it will count for the sprint and the first feature race that we have on Saturday. It will be difficult because the track is very on the limit. We saw that already in the test. It’s very easy to make a mistake and the wall is right there. It’s going to be important to get a good lap in quali one without potentially risking too much in order to be able to do quali two and score points on Sunday as well.”

The difficulties of the new street circuit have already challenged the drivers. Over the course of the two-day test, 19 red flags halted track running and left them with less time to get to grips with the circuit than anticipated.

Wharton, who is currently 15th in the standings, believes that there is less pressure on his shoulders for the sessions because of his championship position.

“Having two qualis is definitely more of an issue for the championship leaders and not so much for the people that have a little bit less to lose,” Wharton said. “Being Ugo or Freddie [Slater, points leader] in this situation is a little bit more difficult than us.

“Having to fight for a championship and then being on the limit or not being on the limit in Q1 is something that all drivers have to figure out, but at the same time, a 20-minute qualifying with a track that’s going to have a lot of red flags is not easy. When you have one push, it’s hard to be on the limit, so it’s going to be a lot of variables.

“I feel like the quali is going to be one of the most intense we have all season. Being in the car for an hour during a quali session is something we’ve never done before so it’s going to be quite physical as well.”

In Monza, Group A will take to the track from 14:00 to 14:10 whilst Group B’s slot is scheduled from 14:20 to 14:30. In Madrid, the first qualifying session takes place between 18:25 and 18:45 followed by the second session from 18:55 to 19:15. Accounting for in-laps and wait time, drivers will be in their cars for more than 50 minutes.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency via Red Bull Content Pool