What a way to close out the year. Tuukka Taponen put on a masterclass in Madrid for MP Motorsport, commanding every single lap of the second Feature Race to take his maiden victory in FIA Formula 3. Behind the flying Finn, history was written. Ugo Ugochukwu brought his Campos Racing machine home in second place, sealing the 2026 Drivers' Championship and writing his name into the history books as the first F3 champion from the United States.
From the moment the lights went out, the shape of the race was set. Taponen covered off Ugochukwu immediately at Turn 1, locking down the lead while Freddie Slater dropped a place to Yevan David on the run to Turn 5, making his own uphill battle for the title even steeper. Down the order, the scraps were fierce. David tried to pressure Enzo Deligny on Lap 3 with DRS enabled at Turn 5, opening a brief window for Slater to poke his nose in at Turn 7 before slotting back into ninth. Slater was relentless on the attack, dispatching the Sri Lankan driver into Turn 2 by Lap 5 to grab eighth.
Today was not a bad race with P2. We knew we just had to keep it clean to clinch the title, and that's what we did. No mistakes, brought it home and super pleased.
Up front, the tactical game played out smoothly. Ugochukwu was more than content to sit within a second of the leader, keeping a wary eye on Rodin Motorsport's Pedro Clerot tucked right behind him in third. As the laps ticked down, Slater searched everywhere for a way past Deligny, trying an audacious look at Turn 7 on Lap 10 and attempting to get creative into Turn 13, only to find the Van Amersfoort Racing door firmly shut every time. Further forward, Taito Kato was hunting another podium in fourth, nearly launching himself into the back of Clerot with a massive lock-up into Turn 17 that required some serious avoidance to keep it on track.
Drama struck deep into the afternoon when Hiyu Yamakoshi ground to a halt with just three laps remaining, forcing the deployment of a Safety Car. The marshals did brilliant work to recover the stricken Van Amersfoort Racing car just in time for a frantic, one-lap shootout to decide the final victory and the championship. Taponen nailed the restart, leading the pack onto the final tour with a comfortable cushion over Ugochukwu and Clerot.
“We did it, FIA F3 Champions! Super, super happy and I can't thank the team enough for an amazing year," Ugochukwu said after locking down the title. “Today was not a bad race with P2. We knew we just had to keep it clean to clinch the title, and that's what we did. No mistakes, brought it home and super pleased."
When the dust settled on the season finale, Ugochukwu stood atop the standings with 159 points, completing a stunning comeback. Slater ended up second in the standings on 145 points, while Taponen's brilliant win vaulted the Finn up to third on 109 points, just ahead of Kato on 105. Théophile Nael rounded out the top five on countback ahead of Clerot, with both finishing on 88 points—securing the top five graduates their prize money ahead of stepping up to FIA Formula 2 in 2027. In the teams' standings, Campos Racing wrapped up the 2026 title with 334 points, clear of TRIDENT in second on 217, while MP Motorsport's late charge lifted them to third with 208 points ahead of ART Grand Prix and Van Amersfoort Racing.
