After a strong rookie Formula 3 season, Hiyu Yamakoshi believes he’s shown he can not only fight the top drivers, but beat them.
Yamakoshi joined the F3 grid as a rookie in 2026 with Van Amersfoort Racing, moving from GB3 and FRECA with the same team.
His maiden season in the series has been impressive, despite a slow start with a disqualification and three races without points; the Japanese driver took his first podium of the season in the Barcelona Feature Race.
Now he sits seventh in the championship standings, with just 20 points separating him from third place. Heading into the final two rounds, there’s a significant amount of points still on the table and positions still to climb.
In the next round, he took his first pole position at the Red Bull Ring. Followed swiftly by another Feature Race at the Belgian Grand Prix weekend.
A look at his rookie year
When speaking to Formula 3, Yamakoshi confessed he hadn’t expected the results to come so quickly in such a competitive series.
“I really didn’t expect to get in a pole position at the Red Bull Ring.” He said. “A podium was expected at some point, but not in the Feature Race.
“I expected I’d have some podiums in the Sprints, but actually my first podium was in Barcelona, P2. Actually, we were chasing P1 all the way.
“It was really, really good. For me, I think I made very good progress from last year and from the past few years. Those results really have given me extra confidence going into every race weekend.”
Coming into a series like F3 is a big step up from GB3 and FRECA, not just in terms of speed but in the exclusivity and the talent on show. It marks a significant step closer to Formula 1, with many of the 30 drivers supported by Formula 1 teams looking for their next driver.
He went on to tell Formula 3 that his success has changed the way he views the competition, giving him a renewed confidence that he can compete at the top level with the top drivers.
“For me, the biggest thing for my mentality is that I realised I’m not slow. I can compete with the top drivers, the top F1 junior team drivers. I can compete with them; actually, I can fight with them; actually, I’m sometimes faster than them. That really makes me extra confident.”
Tight-knit teamwork
Within the Van Amersfoort Racing team, teamwork is a key component. Bruno Del Pino has more experience than Yamakoshi and Enzo Deligny, with one other season under his belt in F3.
However, all three drivers are new to Van Amersfoort’s F3 outfit, with Del Pino racing with MP Motorsport in his rookie year.
The Japanese driver praised the help of his teammate, especially the experience of Del Pino, in helping him extract all the possible performance from the car and himself.
“Obviously Enzo is a rookie, same as me, learning as much as we can from Bruno. In the first few rounds, I learned a lot from Bruno, and the team really helped me to put me in the top 10, top 12 all the time.”
Yamakoshi is no stranger to Van Amersfoort Racing. The Japanese driver raced with the Dutch team in his FRECA and GB3 campaigns in 2025 as well as his 2024 Italian F4 and Euro 4 Cup seasons.
The continuity aided his progress into F3, and he told Formula 3 how the familiarity was ‘really helpful’.
“That really helped, particularly with tyres.” He said. “Even from F4, I had different engineers every year telling me, the one thing you need is to be really good in tyre management, which is really crucial in F3 and F2.
“I think the familiarity is really helpful. For me, I know everybody from F4. Of course, engineers are different, mechanics are different, but I know them, they know me, and they trust me. That’s the reason why I stayed with VAR in F3.
“I think also braking, technique-wise, I can brake hard but nicely, complementing my driving style.”
The final two rounds
With summer break coming to a close, the Japanese driver looked to the final two rounds. With Madrid featuring two Feature Races, he’ll have an extra chance to pick up a podium, with a higher share of points on offer.
“I want to get some more podiums. If we can have good qualifying results, we have more chances to win. So, let’s see. For me, I have really good confidence.”
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