Theophile Nael took the first pole of the 2026 Formula 3 season in Albert Park, with a time of 1:34.187, with teammate Ugo Ugochukwu lining up alongside him.
With just one red flag in the session, Nael narrowly took pole from his teammate as the experienced driver battled the rookies for the top spots.
With 17 rookie drivers making up the 30-car grid, there were many unknowns coming into the first qualifying sessions of the season. Trident came in as the favourites, not only as the reigning champions but also unbeaten in qualifying in Australia.
In the only practice session, the experienced drivers led the field with their knowledge of racing in Melbourne, giving them an edge. However, with each session, the experience gap will narrow as the rookies adjust to a new track.
As the qualifying session went live, 28 of the 30 drivers filed out onto the grid, leaving just the AIX cars in the pit lane initially. MP’s line-up was the first to embark on their flying laps. Tukka Taponen led the trio, with Mattia Colnaghi close behind.
Taponen managed to a time of 1:36.051s, but as the drivers began to storm to the line, the MP driver fell down the order.
The Trident of Freddie Slater crossed the line fastest, with a time of 1:34.818s, but as his teammate Noah Stromsted crossed, he took the top spot by 0.2s.
Ugo Ugochukwu looked primed to steal the top spot as he neared the end of his first push lap, and he crossed the line, putting a gap of 0.430s to Stromsted in second.
The Trident of Stromsted chose to plan a quick turnaround, with a cool-down lap and push lap immediately after. However, the best of his tyres were gone as he didn’t improve.
De Palo found the wall
Tukka Taponen chose the same tactic, and despite putting in a green Sector 1 and Sector 2, he dove into the pit lane, choosing not to complete the run.
A Red Flag was waved as Matteo de Palo ran into the gravel and hit the wall at the exit of Turn 10. The Trident driver is pushing too hard in his initial run. F3 rules meant that De Palo would have his best lap time deleted for causing the red flag, which would put the Italian driver at the back of the grid.
With 20 minutes left in the session, the green flag was waved, and the 29 remaining drivers made their way out onto the track.
Once again, Colnaghi led the field on the first set of push laps. His first sector wasn’t up to the standard of his earlier lap, while Taponen, further back, was putting in personal bests in the first and second sectors.
Ugochukwu’s middle sector was fastest overall, but the American was forced to come into the pit lane after hitting the DRS bollard in Turn 10, damaging his front wing.
Luckily, Ugochukwu maintained his place at the top of the order, with a 0.413s gap to James Wharton, one of the few Australians on the grid looking to take pole at home.
After the second run, the grid filed into the pit lane to change tyres and prepare for the final run of the session. The margins were fine heading into the final eight minutes. One second covered the top 17 drivers.
The last fight for pole
Ugochukwu led the final runners. He started his push lap with five minutes remaining in the session. He was marginally slower in his first sector as the Trident of Slater went purple in the first sector.
Ugochukwu went 0.3s slower than his first lap as he crossed the line. Slater took second fastest as he took the line, but just 0.061s off of Ugochukwu’s pace.
Wharton slid into fourth place but was pushed to fifth as Kato took fourth by just 0.009s.
Maciej Gladysz shot from 14th to third, the ART driver putting a personal best in each sector with a time of 1:34.454s.
In the final seconds of the session, Theophile Nael took pole position from his teammate Ugochukwu by just 0.021s, with a time of 1:34.187s. A milestone for the Campos team, marking their first front-row lockout in F3.
Slater and Gladysz finished third and fourth, making it an impressive rookie second row for the Feature Race.
Bruno Del Pino finished the session in 12th, taking pole position for the Sprint Race, benefiting from the reverse grid. Alongside him will be Enzo Deligny, making it a VAR front row.
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