Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu secured the 2026 FIA Formula 3 Championship after finishing second in the Madrid Feature Race. Entering the decider level on points with Freddie Slater, the 19-year-old managed tyre degradation to claim the drivers’ crown with 159 points.
Ugochukwu held his front-row starting slot into Turn 1, settling into a controlled stint behind the race leader. Track position proved decisive around the tight Madrid layout, where running in dirty air heavily degraded thermal grip. Title rival Freddie Slater, an Audi Formula 1 junior starting eighth, could not make progress through the field. Slater crossed the line in eighth, leaving him on 145 points while Ugochukwu sealed the championship by 14 points.
Ugochukwu focused purely on execution. Managing his compound life kept him safely clear of pressure from behind while conserving ERS deployment along the main straight. It was a calculated performance. The American finished his second F3 campaign with two victories and seven podium finishes, handing Campos Racing a double triumph following their Teams’ Championship victory on Saturday.
Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton greeted the newly crowned champion in the paddock before posting a congratulatory message on social media. Ugochukwu, who has Nigerian heritage, stands among a small number of drivers of color at the sport’s junior summit. The gesture from the seven-time world champion highlighted the landmark victory for American motorsport.
Formula 2 is the clear destination for 2027. Ugochukwu previously departed McLaren’s young-driver pipeline in 2025 before completing a Testing of Previous Cars session with Alpine at Monza in 2026. Now linked with the Red Bull Junior Team, his title victory cements his standing as a top prospect ahead of his next step up the single-seater ladder.
