Théophile Naël scores maiden F3 victory in Feature Race at Catalunya

Written by Liam Ploetner

Image Credit: Formula 3

A measured performance from VAR's Théophile Naël saw him take a maiden F3 victory from pole position, putting him second in the standings behind Ugo Ugochukwu.

Campos lined up on the front row at their home Feature Race with Théophile  Naël and Ugo Ugochukwu making up the first two spots on the grid. Following them in the top ten positions were Hiyu Yamakoshi from VAR (Van Amersfoort Racing), Rodin’s Brando Badoer, ART’s Taito Kato, VAR driver and home hero Bruno del Pino, Campos’ third driver Ernesto Rivera, VAR’s Enzo Deligny,, MP’s Tuukka Taponen and Trident’s Freddie Slater.

The 25-lap Feature Race got underway with a good start from Yamakoshi, who passed Ugochukwu for second, but went off at turn one while attempting a move on Naël for the race lead. Naël led Yamakoshi, Ugochukwu, del Pino, Badoer, Rivera, Deligny, Slater, Taponen and Kato at the end of lap one.

Slater, who had moved up two places at the start, made it three at turn one by passing Deligny. Meanwhile, Christian Ho entered pitlane in his Rodin due to a puncture, and Michael Shin from Hitech and AIX’s Yevan David went off in the middle sector, before getting going again.

Another move came from Slater on lap three, passing Rivera for sixth. The former, as well as Taponen, were under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. Rivera was struggling, but was saved by the Virtual Safety Car (VSC) coming out due to debris.

Slater’s teammate Matteo de Palo made a move on Nandhavud Bhirombakhdi for 21st, with Nicola Lacorte fighting his DAMS stablemate for 22nd now. There was contact at turn four with a few drivers, with a gaggle of cars filling up places seventh to 27th. Prema’s Louis Sharp made a great move on Rodin’s Pedro Clerot work around the outside of turn 12 to move up into 18th, while de Palo passed AIX’s Fernando Barrichello for 20th.

Replays showed at the start, Taponen had a trip to the grass, while Trident’s Noah Strømsted took to the run-off at turn one, and that Shin and David’s collision happened at turn six.

Slater was now under investigation for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. The two DAMS cars of Bhirombakdi and Lacorte collided at the turn 10 hairpin. Lacorte was out, while Bhirombakdi continued with damage. Bhirombakdi defended aggressively, causing Lacorte to go off track and hit his teammate. Another VSC came out. The top ten was Naël, Yamakoshi, Ugochukwu, del Pino, Badoer, Slater, Rivera, Deligny, Taponen and Kato.

Another driver in the top ten that was under investigation was Ugochukwu for driving erratically. Rivera’s struggles continued, losing seventh to Deligny. Slater was given a five-second penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage. He was 1.8 seconds ahead of Deligny.

Yamakoshi continued to loom large in Naël’s mirrors, while Slater made another move, now up to fifth ahead of Badoer. The five second penalty would place him in 13th as of lap 10.

Strømsted made a move on Colnaghi, which forced the MP driver off-track and caused him to lose spots to teammate Alessandor Giusti, Sharp and Clerot.

Naël was still leading Yamakoshi by less than a second, with Ugochukwu being kept company by del Pino, who was looking to make it three consecutive weekends with a podium finish. Slater was just outside of a second behind the duo ahead, with Badoer in pursuit. Deligny was just outside of a second behind Slater and Badoer, but had Rivera, Taponen and Kato, among others, behind him when another VSC came out due to debris.

Hitech’s Fionn McLaughlin came into the pits with damage, leaving 24 cars in the race competitively, as Bhirombakdi, McLaughlin, David, Ho and Shin continued at the back.

The VSC ended, and it continued to be a battle between Campos and Van Amersfoort, with Slater and Badoer slightly adrift.

22nd-placed Jin Nakamura from Hitech then got a five-second penalty for a VSC infringement, continuing a dismal race for the team.

With half of the race completed, Naël led Yamakoshi, Ugochukwu, del Pino, Slater, Badoer, Deligny, Rivera, Taponen and Kato.

Slater was set to finish in 12th with his penalty as it stood. Ugochukwu had began to close on the duo ahead, now being 1.4 seconds back. The battle for 12th between ART teammates Kanato Le and Maciej Gładysz raged on, with Gładysz getting ahead in the middle sector. A mistake from Ugochukwu at the final corner allowed del Pino ahead, meaning the gap had almost doubled from 1.4 seconds to 2.7 seconds.

Unlike Slater, Taponen was not found to have left the track and gained an advantage, and was still behind Rivera, who had dropped off from Deligny.

Speaking of Slater, he and Badoer had now closed up to the podium battle, and was now on for a top ten finish even with his five-second penalty.

Naël looked to get the chip off his shoulder of failing to convert his first two poles of 2026 by breaking the DRS from Yamakoshi, leading by 1.4 seconds from the VAR. On lap 18, del Pino continued to stay just ahead of Ugochukwu, Slater and Badoer, who were putting the home hero under pressure. As it stood, Ugochukwu and Del Pino would be tied for the lead of the championship, and Slater was now set to finish eighth. 

Ugochukwu was cleared off driving erratically, and was now able to turn the wick on and attempt a move on del Pino without having any penalties on his mind. Badoer was now slowly dropping away from Slater, who was now on for seventh with the penalty.

On lap 20, Ugochukwu made his move into turn one to take third, and the championship lead. Slater was now pressuring the VAR, and Badoer and Deligny were now closing too.

Taponen and Kato were side-by-side into turn one, with the latter using the escape road to re-enter in 11th. Strømsted made a brilliant move on Le in the final sector, and an error from Slater at the final corner now meant he was to finish in eighth, unless he could get a second and a half on Rivera.

The train had now formed behind Taponen, with ninth to 19th in the battle. Slater was now struggling, and Deligny pounced at turn one to pass the Trident. Slater was comfortably set for eighth though, being almost 10 seconds clear of Taponen.

Naël continued to lead with three laps to go, while Yamakoshi continued in second with the fastest lap. Ugochukwu had a gap to del Pino, who now was hanging onto fourth from Badoer. Kato went around the outside of Sprint Race winner James Wharton for 10th, passing the Prema at turn one. Wharton seemed to be struggling, as Gładysz was now all over the back of him.

Yamakoshi closed on Naël for the lead, but it looked to be too late for the VAR. Badoer finally passed del Pino at turn one. Gładysz attempted a similar move on Wharton, but went off-track. He gave the place back, but still got ahead at turn four for 11th. Kato had passed Taponen for ninth, but Slater was still 10 seconds clear of the ART. 

Wharton lost another place, this time to Strømsted, while Deligny moved ahead of teammate del Pino on the final lap, as did Gładysz on Taponen, albeit with both drivers going off-track. Now Strømsted was pressuring Ferrari junior Taponen.

Naël led every lap of the race and always looked comfortable upfront, taking his maiden victory in Formula 3. Yamakoshi secured his first podium, while Ugochukwu remained in third to keep the championship lead. Badoer was fourth for Rodin, being followed home by Deligny, del Pino and Rivera. Slater finished eighth after his penalty, with ART duo Kato and Gładysz making up the rest of the points. A poor last lap for Taponen saw him lose positions to Strømsted, Wharton and Le.