Ugo Ugochukwu took the 2026 Formula 3 Championship after a hard-fought weekend in Madrid, with Tuukka Taponen winning the Feature Race and championship runner-up Freddie Slater finishing 8th.
Taponen lined up on pole for the second Feature Race and final race of the 2026 season; alongside him was one of the championship hopefuls, Ugochukwu.
While Ugochukwu and Slater entered the final race equal on points, with Ugochukwu taking the lead on countback as he holds one more Sprint Victory. The American held the advantage into the race, with overtaking proving difficult and Slater starting down in 8th.
As the lights went out, Taponen was quick off the line into Turn 1, but the run from P2 was equally as strong, and the MP driver covered off the move and maintained the lead.
Slater falls back
There was tussling in the background as Slater went wheel to wheel with Yevan David’s AIX, losing a place into the opening corners. The top 5 remained in their places and out of trouble in the first lap, with Ugochukwu second on the road.
The pressure wasn’t over for Slater, who had Ernesto Rivera on his gearbox into Lap 3, the TRIDENT driver flitting between challenging David and falling into the front wing of Rivera behind.
However, Slater was desperate to get past David, lunging on the AIX and making it back up into eighth after launching his TRIDENT into the chicane.
The first yellow flag came out when Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi was stopped on the road. Luckily, on Lap 5, he got going again. The DAMS driver came into the pit lane to change his front wing and continued on at the back of the field.
Slater was closing in on Enzo Deligny. Slater had shown he was willing to take risks. On Lap 7, the Briton put in the fastest lap.
Despite Slater having the pace advantage on the VAR ahead of him, the narrow streets of Madrid left the TRIDENT driver painfully stuck behind Deligny. With just nine laps left, Slater needed to take a place every lap to win the title.
Overtaking proved difficult
Taponen was calm out front, with his lead building to over a second over Ugochukwu.
On Lap 12, the order remained largely the same, with the track just proving too difficult to overtake on. First to 12th all had DRS in Lap 14, but there was no movement around the field.
It was a disaster for Hiyu Yamakoshi as he stopped on the side of the track on the run to Turn 8; the stopped VAR brought out a Safety Car, but with just three laps left, the chance to return to racing was slim.
The Safety Car came in ahead of the final lap, with one go-racing lap for the field. Taponen led the field green and kept his lead, with Ugochukwu stuck in second place once again.
Taponen took the chequered flag to claim his maiden victory and secure third in the championship standings. However, Ugochukwu had the focus, taking the 2026 F3 title, with Slater finishing 8th as runner-up.
READ MORE: Ugo Ugochukwu did ‘exactly what was needed’ in F3 qualifying at Madrid
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