Phot: Dom Gibbons / Getty Images

Campos Racing has announced the injured Ernesto Rivera will miss this weekend’s FIA Formula 3 season opener in Melbourne, with Patrick Heuzenroeder taking his place.

It is the second time that Heuzenroeder has stood in for Rivera, having done so in the pre-season test at Barcelona on February 10-12.

The 20-year-old Australian will be making his F3 debut on home soil, but already has experience of racing third-tier single-seaters having spent the last two weekends racing in Eurocup-3’s winter series with Campos. He sits 10th in the standings, with one more round to go in mid-March.

“I’m very excited to be given this opportunity to make my debut in FIA F3 at my home grand prix,” said Heuzenroeder. “It will be a steep learning curve but I am looking forward to it and can’t wait to get on track! Thank you to my supporters and family for this opportunity.”

Through the rest of this year he will also be racing for Campos, as he part of its line-up in the main Eurocup-3 championship. In 2025 he was GB3 runner-up and fourth in Formula Regional Oceania, winning a race in both.

Rivera was racing in the latter series a month ago when he had a crash at Highlands Motorsport Park. It led to him missing the season’s final two races with back pain, and has ruled him out of action since once he was diagnosed with a vertebra injury.

The 17-year-old Mexican came 11th in the FRegional Oceania standings with two podiums and a pole, and raced for Campos last year in Eurocup-3 when it still used FRegional-based chassis. He was fourth in the championship with three wins, four other podiums and two poles. Rivera has been a Red Bull junior since September 2024.

Written by Jacob Awcock and Ida Wood

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Prema’s FIA Formula 3 drivers remain confident heading into the Melbourne season opener despite the recent changes at the team.

The Italian outfit enters this season without its founding Rosin family after they and other key senior figures departed over the winter, while parent company DC Racing Solutions’ financial situation has left uncertainty over its IndyCar participation.

There has been a knock-on effect for the F3 programme, with Enzo Deligny announcing he would be driving for Van Amersfoort Racing this year having previously signed with Prema.

“It was not an easy decision,” said the Frenchman. “The state of Prema was not the same as when we joined it. It wasn’t my call, but my management team opted to switch to VAR.”

Deligny’s replacement, Jose Garfias, was announced by Prema just a day later and was quick to defend his team when asked about the situation.

“The atmosphere is really great compared to other teams I’ve been with,” Garfias explained. “It’s a great team, great people and a great atmosphere and they’re all pushing to win.”

“The background noise is something that has and always will be there. There are rumours but everything inside the team seems to be going well. The focus is on performing and the better we perform the better it is for everyone else.”

Team-mates Louis Sharp and James Wharton echoed Garfias’ comments and played down any disruption, with Sharp claiming the atmosphere in the team is “as strong as it was six months ago.”

“I think the background noise isn’t nearly as big as I think a lot of people think it is,” said Sharp.

“There’s always a lot of rumours in motorsport but I think that the environment is equally as strong as it was six months ago when I joined the team. The teams ready to win, they’re fighting and giving everything so our job is to fight with them and deliver with them.”

Wharton echoed the words of support for a team he has returned to for his second season in F3, having previously spent three years with Prema across Formula 4 and Formula Regional from 2022 to ’24.

“As a driver the environment is amazing,” Wharton explained. “I don’t feel like there’s been that much of a change within our group of people.

“The engineering department and technical department hasn’t changed for us so from an atmosphere point of view nothing has changed. I feel as good as I felt six months ago. I’m happy to be here and we’re fully supporting the team.”

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Niko Lacorte left it late to top FIA Formula 3’s final pre-season test session at Barcelona, leading a DAMS one-two.

Enzo Deligny (Van Amersfoort Racing) was the pace-setter early on, leading team-mate Bruno del Pino before his other team-mate Hiyu Yamakoshi got within 0.167 seconds of his 1m30.430s.

Five teams did not record laptimes in the first half-hour, and Maciej Gladysz (ART Grand Prix) got ahead of del Pino.

More drivers headed out after, and Brando Badoer (Rodin Motorsport) posted a 1m32.108s to take top spot 38 minutes in. His team-mate Pedro Clerot went third fastest, 0.391s behind.

Ugo Ugochukwu (Campos Racing) demoted him to fourth by 0.03s before red flags waved three quarters of an hour in due to Jose Garfias (Prema) getting into trouble.

Three teams were still without laptimes, but that changed following the restart. Fernando Barrichello (AIX) lowered the pace to 1m31.688s, Ugochukwu improved in third and his team-mates entered the top 10 with their first efforts.

Theophile Nael (Campos) edged ahead of Ugochukwu by 0.075s on his next tour, but lost third shortly after as Noah Stromsted (Trident) got within 0.484s of Barrichello with his first flying lap.

Hour one of three ended with Brad Benavides (AIX), on his first flyer, going fastest by 0.115s before Freddie Slater (Trident) brought out red flags.

The restart occurred 72 minutes in, and shortly after Badoer and Yevan David (AIX) improved to 1m31.936s and 1m32.076s in third and fourth on a congesting track. Hitech GP’s drivers had now posted laptimes too.

There was no change to the top 10 until 85 minutes in, when Tuukka Taponen (MP Motorsport) went eighth quickest ahead of Deligny, who had not improved after topping the timesheet.

As the session’s second half began, Fionn McLaughlin (Hitech) stopped in sector three and triggered red flags.

There was 75 minutes left of the test at the next restart, and Slater posted his first laptime eight minutes later. It placed him eighth, 0.797s from the top, then team-mate Stromsted returned to third by getting within 0.144s of Benavides. There were only four cars on track, but it got busier in the final hour.

Badoer took to the front with a 1m31.473s, before Matteo De Palo (Trident) leaped from 17th to first by going 0.563s faster than anyone else. Christian Ho had risen from 22nd to sixth, but was a second off the pace.

Barcelona was at its busiest with half an hour remaining, and Tim Tramnitz (Hitech) snatched second from Badoer by 0.053s having previously been 21st. Ugochukwu improved to seventh.

Tramnitz reduced Benavides’s gap further to 0.375s with 13 minutes to go, and David set a new personal best in ninth.

The biggest change came six minutes from the end, as Lacorte and Xie jumped from 23rd and 24th to the top. Xie set a 1m30.275s, bettering Benavides by 0.635s, then Lacorte went 0.599s faster than him. The pair pitted straight after, leaving nine drivers taking the chequered flag.

Additional reporting by Ida Wood

Afternoon session results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Campos Racing’s Theophile Nael was quickest on the final morning of FIA Formula 3 pre-season testing at Barcelona.

Early on in the three-hour session it was Noah Stromsted (Trident) who was fastest, a 1m27.620s lap putting him 0.034 seconds ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu (Campos). Freddie Slater (Trident) was third, 0.104 behind.

Nael moved into third early in the second hour, 0.085s off the top, and half a second split the top 10. Brando Badoer (Rodin Motorsport) was fifth with a 1m27.891s, ahead of Patrick Heuzenroeder (Campos), Brad Benavides (AIX Racing), Louis Sharp (Prema), Niko Lacorte (DAMS) and Taito Kato (ART Grand Prix).

On his next run, Nael improved to 1m27.525s with the fastest splits in sectors one and three to claim top spot by 0.095s. Once he pitted, the track was empty until Lacorte headed back out with 73 minutes to go.

Tuukka Taponen (MP Motorsport) rose from 15th to eighth with 64 minutes remaining, setting a 1m28.075s to edge ahead of Sharp by 0.01s, as only a few drivers headed out at a time.

In the final hour, teams turned their attention to long runs and pitstop practice. The final classification was set with 56 minutes to go, when Alessandro Giusti (MP) moved up from 28th to 24th and team-mate Mattia Colnaghi made a big gain that lifted him from last place but only by 0.011s over Gerrard Xie (DAMS)

Half a second split the top seven, and only Bruno del Pino (Van Amersfoort Racing), Colnaghi and Xie were over a second off the pace.

Campos’s trio and Yevan David (AIX) were the only drivers to take the chequered flag, and the most running was completed by Nael and Ugochukwu.

Additional reporting by Ida Wood

Morning session results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Ugo Ugochukwu secured top spot on the second afternoon of FIA Formula 3 pre-season testing at Barcelona with a late lap to lead a Campos Racing 1-2-3.

Teams opted to focus on long runs at the start of the three-hour session, and Bruno del Pino (Van Amersfoort Racing) set the early pace. A 1m32.219s put him 0.039 seconds ahead of Theophille Nael (Campos).

With nearly an hour gone, Fernando Barrichello (AIX Racing) took over top spot with a 1m31.566s and morning pace-setter Freddie Slater (Trident) slotted into fourth, 0.751s behind.

There was usually only one team on track at a time thereon until the final hour. Slater beat Barrichello’s benchmark by 0.158s, then with 51 minutes to go Brad Benavides (AIX) pipped him by 0.017s. His time on top did not last long either as he was outpaced by all three Campos drivers.

The pace was lowered to the 1m30s, and Ugochukwu led the way with a 1m30.492s. Nael was 0.486s behind, and test-only stand-in Patrick Heuzenroeder was 0.716s adrift in third.

Eight drivers had gone sub-1m31s with half an hour to go, and Jin Nakamura (Hitech GP) was quickest. His 1m30.260s lap put him 0.162s ahead of Enzo Deligny (VAR), Ugochukwu was third and next up were the closely matched Rodin Motorsport trio of Brando Badoer, Pedro Clerot and Christian Ho.

Nakamura’s team-mates Tim Tramnitz and Fionn McLaughlin were 27th and 28th, and with 24 minutes remaining Tramnitz snatched first place by 0.012s and McLaughlin jumped to eighth. Badoer improved to be just 0.021s from the top in third.

McLaughlin climbed another spot eight minutes from the end, and three minutes later Clerot got within 0.154s of Tramnitz’s pace to occupy fourth. After a cooldown lap, McLaughlin attacked again and a 1m30.077s made him fastest by 0.171s. He was soon fourth though, as the top 10 embarked on their final flying laps.

Badoer rocketed ahead with a 1m29.153s, leading Ho by 0.164s and del Pino by 0.711s. A few seconds later Ugochukwu lowered the pace to 1m28.241s and Deligny improved to move into fourth. When Ugochukwu’s team-mates crossed the line, they slotted into second and third. Heuzenroeder went second quickest, 0.203s off, and Nael trailed by 0.414s.

The final order was locked in with four minutes to go, and red flags ended the session 78s early after Deligny stopped in sector two.

Afternoon session results

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Photo: Getty Images

Freddie Slater led a Trident one-two on the second morning of FIA Formula 3 pre-season testing at Barcelona.

He went 1.391 seconds quicker than the laptime that put him on top of day one’s timesheet, and had a 0.331s gap to second place at the conclusion of the three-hour session.

Prema’s trio were the first on track, and all drivers were keen to set down representative laptimes early on after damp conditions the previous morning.

Theophile Nael (Campos Racing) set the early pace with a 1m46.217s, over a second clear of Enzo Deligny (Van Amersfoort Racing).

The time to beat got lower and lower, and after the first 10 minutes a 1m30.084s was enough to put Louis Sharp (Prema) on top. He led Taito Kato (ART Grand Prix) by 0.184s.

As drivers completed their third set of push laps early on, Sharp was relegated to fourth. Noah Stromsted had posted a 1m28.447s to lead Trident team-mate Matteo De Palo by 1.094s, and Slater was up to third.

Improvements were made by drivers again later into hour one, which Gerrard Xie (DAMS) ended on top with a 1m27.792s. He was soon in third though as Tuukka Taponen (MP Motorsport) lowered the pace to 1m27.402, pipping Stromsted by 0.014s.

Approaching the session’s halfway point, Slater knocked Kato off top spot with a 1m27.020s lap that would go unbeaten. Kato’s previous benchmark was beaten by 0.297s, and he failed to improve thereon. With 81 minutes to go, Stromsted edged ahead of him by 0.009s.

Teams opted to focus on long runs for the second half of the session, and there was little change to the order. Behind the top three, Maciej Gladysz (ART GP) trailed Slater by 0.3s in fourth, and Taponen was fifth with the laptime that had put him in first place for a period of running.

Morning session results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Trident’s Freddie Slater set the fastest lap on the first day of FIA Formula 3 pre-season testing at Barcelona.

There were two three-hour sessions, and in the morning there was little track activity in the first 90 minutes. Theophile Nael (Campos Racing) led Kanato Le (ART Grand Prix) by 0.355 seconds with a 1m43.188s lap at that point, and only 14 drivers had recorded laptimes. Fernando Barrichello (AIX Racing) had just triggered the first red flag period on the wet track.

Ten minutes later, Hiyu Yamakoshi (Van Amersfoort Racing) lowered the pace by 1.252s. His team-mate Bruno del Pino then got within 0.061s of the new benchmark, but Yamakoshi improved to 1m41.9s on his next lap. Pedro Clerot (Rodin Motorsport) soon made it a top three covered by 0.098s as most drivers remained in the pits.

Taito Kato (ART GP) was next to lead the way, by 0.951s, and Christian Ho (Rodin) moved up to second but was 2.653s off the pace once Kato improved to 1m39.058s.

When Le lapped 0.831s shy of Kato with 67 minutes to go, only those two were active. Enzo Deligny (VAR) cut Kato’s advantage to 0.215s in the final hour, and the circuit remained quiet. Brando Badoer (Rodin) broke the 1m39s barrier, and had a big gap until Hitech GP’s stand-in driver Tim Tramnitz set a 1m37.188s with 43 minutes remaining.

His team-mate Jin Nakamura lowered the pace to 1m36.795s four minutes later while out alone, and there was so little track action thereon that 11 drivers ended session one sans laptimes. Barrichello meanwhile had several of his deleted due to being underfuelled.

In contrast, half of the field headed straight out in the afternoon session. Gerrard Xie (DAMS) was first to the top, then Louis Sharp (Prema), Tuukka Taponen (MP Motorsport) and Kato before the first runs ended. A 1m29.118s was the time to beat, with 0.071s splitting a top three completed by Le.

A second covered the top 17 half an hour in, with the track never overly busy. There was change at the end of hour one as Le lowered the pace to 1m28.742s, leading team-mates Kato and Gladysz by 0.232s and 0.327s respectively.

Tramnitz rose to fifth with a laptime 0.477s off Le’s best 79 minutes in, and a few minutes later Taponen got within 0.129s of Le.

Niko Lacorte (DAMS) snuck into fourth before the next runs ended approaching the session’s halfway mark, and there was drama when drivers headed back out. Deligny triggered red flags with 80 minutes to go, and before anyone could improve following the restart there was another stoppage caused by Mattia Colnaghi (MP) who was in seventh place at the time.

He was demoted a spot 53 minutes from the end as Brad Benavides (AIX) went 0.033s faster than him and 0.46s slower than Le to rise to sixth.

Kato caused the next red flag interruption, and the next improvements came in the final half-hour. Badoer went seventh quickest, and nobody above him posted personal bests for ending their runs.

There was more change with 10 minutes to go, as Ugo Ugochukwu (Campos) lapped 0.116s off Le’s long-standing benchmark and Noah Stromsted (Trident) was a further 0.066s off in fourth.

James Wharton (Prema) bettered Stromsted by 0.043s with eight minutes left of the day, and a minute later Slater posted a 1m28.411s that put him on top by 0.331s and would not be beaten.

At the same time, Sharp pipped Taponen by 0.003s for fourth before the track began to empty. A second covered the top 21.

Day one results

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Photo: BMW Motorsport

Tim Tramnitz has been announced as a BMW works driver for 2026, but he will be in a single-seater car this week.

The 21-year-old German will drive for Hitech GP in this week’s FIA Formula 3 pre-season test at Barcelona, sitting in for Michael Shin who has signed to race for the team this year.

Shin, who is moving across from Euroformula, has been ruled out of action at present due to a shoulder injury.

For the last two years, Tramnitz has raced for MP Motorsport in the FIA F3 Championship. He came ninth in 2024 with a sprint race win and three other podiums, and was fourth in 2025.

Following a run of seven successive top-five finishes, including a sprint race win and a feature race podium, Tramnitz’s form went downhill and after his first runner-up finish in a feature race he only scored one point in the last seven races.

“I am super happy to now be part of the BMW M Motorsport family and look forward to the challenge,” he said of his next career move.

“For me, this is a big step, as I have dreamed of becoming a works driver for a major manufacturer since my time in karting. I would like to thank everyone involved for their trust and can’t wait to contest my first races at the wheel of the BMW M4 GT3 Evo.”

It has not been announced which championship Tramnitz will race the BMW M4 GT3 Evo in through this year, and his new contract with the German automobile manufacturer comes despite no prior GT sportscar racing experience.

Another junior single-seater star to be signed by a sportscar brand for 2026 is 20-year-old Joseph Loake, who has become a factory driver for McLaren in GT racing.

Back in 2023, Loake took four wins in GB3 to come third in the standings and put himself in contention for the Aston Martin Autosport BRDC Award. After impressing in the on-track tests as one of the four finalists, the Briton earned himself a prize Formula 1 test with Aston Martin which he completed at Silverstone a year later.

His main focus in 2024 was FIA F3, in which he came 26th in the standings with eight points. They were scored in the two Monaco races.

Last year he made a USF Pro 2000 cameo and finished fifth on debut, as well as racing in sportscars for McLaren customer team Garage 59 in GT World Challenge Europe. He and his team-mates came seventh in the Endurance Cup with one podium.

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Photo: Dutch Photo Agency / Red Bull

Campos Racing has announced that one of its drivers for the 2026 FIA Formula 3 season will not contest the first pre-season test, but it will still field three cars.

Red Bull junior Ernesto Rivera, who will race for Campos this year, will not be in the cockpit at Barcelona on Febrary 10-12 and Patrick Heuzenroeder has been called up to drive his car.

At the start of 2026, Rivera raced in Formula Regional Oceania and in the final round at Highlands Motorsport Park he had a crash after the bridge section in the second race nine days ago that led to him missing the season’s final two races. The 17-year-old Mexican is still recovering from bak pain and has not been cleared to be back driving on track.

There were two podiums and a fastest lap for Rivera in the first two rounds of the FRegional Oceania season, and while he began round three with a pole he only had one top-10 finish in the next two rounds and came 11th in the standings. Rivera steps up to F3 after coming fourth in Eurocup-3 with Campos and ninth in FRegional Middle East last year.

Heuzenroeder will be in Campos’s Eurocup-3 line-up for 2026, and the Formula 1-supporting FIA F3 Championship is the next target for the 20-year-old Australian in his career. He was GB3 runner-up and fourth in FRegional Oceania last year, winning a race in both. It was his third GB3 campaign, having done two rounds in 2023 then coming 12th in the 2024 season.

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Prema has named Jose Garfias as one of its drivers in FIA Formula 3 this year, replacing the previously signed Enzo Deligny.

It was announced at the start of October last year that Formula Regional Europe and Middle East race-winner Deligny would be stepping up to F3 in 2026 with Prema, but amid major staffing changes at the team it was confirmed yesterday after several media reports on the matter that he would instead be driving for rival team Van Amersfoort Racing this year.

The founding Rosin family has now departed Prema, along with other senior figures, and its parent company DC Racing Solution’s financial situation has led to ongoing uncertainty about whether its IndyCar squad will be on track this season.

Garfias has spent the last two years in the F3-level Euroformula championship, coming seventh with four podiums and a pole as a part-timer in 2024 then improving to fourth in 2025 with three victories and seven other podiums.

“Ready to take on this new challenge with Prema in F3,” said the 21-year-old Mexican.

“It’s a big step in the right direction for my career. Racing in F3 is something that I have been working towards for the last few years, and doing it with Prema means a lot to me. Very thankful for everyone who is making this possible, and grateful to Prema for giving me the opportunity to prove myself on a bigger stage. I’m ready to make the most of it.”

The FIA F3 Championship introduced a new car last year, and Prema slipped to seventh in the standings after winning the teams’ title in five of the six seasons using the preceding car.

Garfias has F3 experience from a 2025 cameo with AIX Racing. He will return to the cockpit in pre-season testing at Barcelona next week.

“We are happy to welcome Jose for the season,” said Prema’s F3 team manager Goffredo Pirro.

“Even though he will be competing full-time in the series for the first time this year, he has a good amount of experience in Eurocup-3 and Euroformula, so I think he will quickly adapt himself to the new environment and get positive results.”

Garfias was fourth in Eurocup-3 two years ago when it was a FRegional-based series, making the podium five times. He will be team-mate in F3 to Louis Sharp and James Wharton.

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