Theophile Nael celebrated his second Formula 3 Pole position in a row, this time around the historic streets of Monaco.
Racing in Monaco brings a host of challenges to drivers and is extremely different from the season opener in Melbourne. The narrow streets and unforgiving walls mean that drivers are punished harshly for mistakes and rewarded for their bravery.
In Nael’s penultimate push lap, he was reminded of the consequences of Monte-Carlo as he clipped the wall. Luckily, his car remained largely unscathed, and he managed to continue for his final pole position lap.
“For sure, we are fighting quite hard to make the pole. So yeah, I clipped a bit into the last corner.” Nael told Motorsport Week and other media.
“It didn’t cause so much damage to the car. So I was able to keep pushing for one more lap. But yeah, we are fighting really hard. It can happen to clip a bit into the wall.”
Back-to-back poles for Nael
Coming into his second season in F3, Nael switched to Campos Racing and took a step up in performance. He took his first F3 pole position in Melbourne, though he failed to convert the result into meaningful points.
However, he hit the ground in Monaco. Pole position is significant in every race, but none is as important as Monaco. The Campos driver admitted it ‘felt good’ to take pole on a track that is so hard to overtake on.
“It felt really good, second pole in a row here in the FIA Formula 3. So yeah, it felt good, especially in Monaco, we’re in this straight segment.” He told Motorsport Week and other media.
“We know that it’s maybe the toughest one on the calendar to make the pole. We’re happy. The team did a really good job. Thanks to them”
The biggest opportunity for drivers to get ahead of one another is in Turn 1 or in the pits.
The Sprint race in F3 has no mandatory pit stops, making Turn 1 the most precarious part of Saturday. Especially with Nael starting 12th due to the reverse grid.
The French driver admitted that the Sprint Race would largely be used to learn how the tyres degrade to inform Sunday’s strategy.
“Tomorrow will be a race to learn for the feature race on Sunday. I would love to take it easy, avoid the crashes as well and try to have a clear idea about the tyre management for the Sunday race.”
Success on street circuits
Monaco F3 and F2 qualifying are unique from Formula 1. With more cars on the grid and chaos more common, the qualifying session is split into two groups. That, on top of the tricky track conditions, presents challenges to the drivers.
However, Nael said that the differences for Monaco don’t change the way he approaches the sessions.
“I would say you approach qualifying always in the same way. You know that if you want to be at the top, you need to deliver a perfect lap as close as possible to it.
“Maybe you build up a bit more initiative, but you are looking to be as close as possible.”
Nael is no stranger to narrow street circuits; the French driver won the prestigious F3 Macau Grand Prix in 2025. The treacherous track is often compared to Monaco for its narrow winding roads through the streets of Macau.
The Campos driver told Motorsport Week and other media that his success around Macau gave him confidence coming to Monaco.
“I think Macau helped me to bring the confidence to come here to Monaco. Both tracks are really difficult in terms of bringing the pace into the qualy. Macau helped with the confidence.
“I came here this morning with the same mentality as in Macau before the qualifying. I think it may help again.”
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