Ugo Ugochukwu is the new Formula 3 champion. The Campos Racing driver closed out the 2026 season with the final race, contested in the early hours of Sunday morning (13) at Madring, the street circuit set up on the streets of Madrid, Spain, finishing in second place and flipping the standings over Freddie Slater in the year’s last event. The victory went to Tuukka Taponen, the MP Motorsport driver who started from pole and led the 19 laps of the race.
Ugochukwu stayed close to Taponen throughout the entirety of the race, without ever attempting an overtaking move. At the end of the race, theFinnish driver celebrated the win, while the American secured the title by finishing the year in second place in the standings. The triumph also ends a three-title streak for Trident, which had claimed the championships in previous years with Gabriel Bortoleto, Leonardo Fornaroli, and Rafael Câmara.
Winner of Saturday’s main race, Pedro Clerot claimed another podium by finishing third in a Rodin Motorsport car, with Taito Kato in fourth aboard a car prepared by ART Grand Prix. The top five was completed by Mattia Colnaghi, a driver for MP Motorsport.
Alessandro Giusti, in an MP Motorsport car, finished sixth, ahead of Enzo Deligny, seventh in a Van Amersfoort. Freddie Slater, who battled for the title with Ugochukwu, ended eighth for Trident, while Ernesto Rivera of Campos Racing finished ninth. The top ten also included Yevan David, in an AIX Racing car, the team that saw Fernando Barrichello conclude in 23rd.
The race featured a Safety Car deployment on lap 17. Hiyu Yamakoshi stopped on track in a Van Amersfoort car, forcing race direction to neutralize the contest. Officials managed to quickly remove the car and the race was restarted for one lap, with positions remaining unchanged.
The Formula 3 championship closed with Ugochukwu on 159 points, ahead of Slater on 145, who finished as runner-up. Taponen ended the contest in third with 108 points. Clerot finished sixth in the standings with 88 points, while Barrichello ends the season in 27th place with 2 points.
