Taito Kato and Tuukka Taponen secured the pole positions for the main races of the round that marks the decision of the 2026 Formula 3 season. Friday (11) featured two qualifying sessions at Madring, a circuit set up on the streets of Madrid, Spain, which will decide the title between Freddie Slater and Ugo Ugochukwu, with the Japanese driver starting in front in the first of the three races of the weekend, while the Finn leads the Sunday race. The only Sprint of the round will have James Wharton in front.
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The Brazilian drivers had different performances. Pedro Clerot achieved good qualifying results in both sessions, finishing second in the first and third in the last activity. However, the Rodin Motorsport driver hit the wall in the final moments of the second qualifying. Fernando Barrichello will have to make recovery races after qualifying 25th and 27th with the AIX Racing car.
The first qualifying saw Kato secure pole position with a time of 1min50s535 in a lap where he almost touched the wall with the ART Grand Prix car. Brazilian Pedro Clerot took second place with Rodin Motorsport, just 0.012 seconds behind the pole. Tuukka Taponen, from MP Motorsport, starts third, followed by Ugo Ugochukwu, fourth with Campos Racing. Enzo Deligny, from Van Amersfoort, and Jin Nakamura, from Hitech, complete the top 6.
Ernesto Rivera, with a Campos Racing car, will start seventh, sharing the fourth row with Alessandro Giusti, eighth with MP Motorsport. Bruno Del Pino placed ninth with a Van Amersfoort car, while Alex Powell, from Prema, starts tenth. Theóphile Nael, from Campos Racing, and James Wharton, from Prema, close the top 12, with Wharton starting from pole position in the Sprint.
The championship leader, Freddie Slater, did not do well in the first qualifying. The Brit, who complained about the car’s behavior throughout the session with Trident, only managed 17th place and will start from this position in both Saturday races. Fernando Barrichello will also have to make recovery races. The Brazilian from AIX Racing starts 25th in both races.
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Moments after the first qualifying, the category defined the Sunday grid with a new session. Taponen secured pole position with 1min49s750, beating Ugochukwu by just 0.021 seconds, leaving the championship runner-up in second place. Clerot, who crashed on the last attempt, starts third, followed by Taito Kato, fourth with Van Amersfoort. Mattia Colnaghi, from Van Amersfoort, and Deligny complete the top six.
Giusti took seventh on the starting grid, followed by Slater, eighth best. Yevan David, a driver for AIX Racing, will start ninth, while Rivera completes the top ten. Brando Badoer, from Rodin Motorsport, and Powell complete the top 12 on the grid. Barrichello starts Sunday’s race from 27th position.
The first two Formula 3 races in Madrid will be held this Saturday, with the Sprint scheduled for 6:05 and the main race starting at 13:00. The championship decision takes place on Sunday with a single race, scheduled for 4:45.
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