Matteo de Palo claimed victory in the early hours of Sunday (the 5th) in the main race of the fifth round of the 2026 Formula 3 season, held at the Silverstone circuit in England. The Trident driver engaged in a fierce duel for the win with Freddie Slater, his teammate, and had to fend off Theophile Nael on the final lap after a late restart to secure first place after 21 laps.
The second place went to Ernesto Rivera, a Campos Racing driver who had been among the leaders, but who benefited from a ten-second penalty given to Nael following an incident with Yevan David. Maciej Gladysz, from AR Grand Prix, completed the podium in third. James Wharton, of Prema, and Slater, from Trident, finished the top five.
The championship leader, Ugo Ugochukwu, crossed the finish line in sixth place in a Campos Racing car, ahead of Louis Sharp, seventh with Prema. Noah Stromsted, from Trident, finished eighth, while Kanato Le, the ART Grand Prix driver, ended ninth. Alessandro Giusti, from MP Motorsport, completed the top ten.
The Brazilians showed contrasting performances in the early hours. Pedro Clerot drove a combative race, particularly in the second half, finishing 13th with a Rodin Motorsport car. Fernando Barrichello also produced an aggressive race with multiple overtakes, but was clipped by Bruno del Pino and spun on the final lap with the AIX Racing car, finishing 28th.
The race included a Safety Car deployment. On lap 18, Ricardo Escotto stopped on track after the AIX Racing car developed problems. The neutralization was necessary to remove the car from the circuit.
The next Formula 3 round is scheduled for July 17-19 at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium.
