Ugo Ugochukwu has spent his second Formula 3 campaign in a battle for the title against Freddie Slater. The Campos driver expressed his thoughts on the championship after the F3 Hungarian GP.
Ugo Ugochukwu had the upper hand over his rival in the championship standings until the Hungarian GP weekend concluded. The Campos driver went into the weekend on top, but after the Sprint Race, the two rivals headed into the Feature Race tied on points.
After securing a P2 at the Feature Race, while rival Slater took the victory, the two are eight points apart. The weekend left Ugochukwu on the back foot for the first time in terms of the title fight.
Speaking about the season thus far, the American said: “I’m feeling good still. It’s been a pretty consistent, straightforward year. I had scored points at every round pretty much up until Spa.
“Spa was the one weekend which didn’t really go our way. A messy qualifying as we expected and a few grid penalties didn’t help as everyone was fighting for slipstream. So it was just trying to bounce back after that one.”
Learn to maximise performance
Since the season hit the ground running in Melbourne, Ugochukwu demonstrated massive consistency and impressive performances. Weekend after weekend, the American would find himself back on the podium steps.
While there is no doubt about his consistency, his strong momentum appeared to dip at Spa-Francorchamps. Both championship contenders retired from the Sprint after they made contact. Then the Feature Race saw him finish at the back of the pack.
“I think we can definitely learn and take a lot of stuff from the last few weekends,” Ugochukwu said of the recent difficulties.
“You need to try to maximise Fridays because in F3, a good quali just makes the weekend a lot easier. So we have to look into it, and we’ll try to have a strong Fridays to put ourselves in a good position.
“Yes, Spa was very messy. We knew Budapest would be much more straightforward. So we’ll try to maximise Fridays and then see how the weekend goes.”
Ugochukwu improved over the Hungarian GP weekend; however, with a P2 finish, he still ended up behind Slater.
Pushing each other in the title fight
Only two rounds remain in the F3 championship. However, the Madrid round has over 50 points up for grabs with two Feature Races. With that in mind, the drivers will get their elbows out and fight until the very last moment. The last two rounds could change everything.
Reflecting on the title fight with Slater, the American said: “I think it’s good to be honest. It’s actually been a really enjoyable year.
“I think every weekend we push each other to be better, to be faster. I’m sure it’s going to be a really good fight to the end. Every weekend, we’re trying to score as many points as possible.
“I think we’ve got to focus on ourselves a bit, do our job and do our good performance. We’ll see where all the points add up at the end of the season.”
Both Ugochukwu and Slater have shown consistency, having shared many podiums. With the fight likely to last until the final lap, the American will do everything he can to regain his strong momentum.
“I’m sure it will come down to the wire anyway. The doubleheader in Madrid will make the difference, so it’s just about being in the fight going into it,” he continued.
“I just need to try to perform as well as possible, to be back in the front consistently like we had been, fighting for podiums, and fighting for wins.”
READ MORE: Otmar Szafnauer: ‘I’m too old to work with human beings who aren’t decent’
Discussion about this post