KEY POINTS

• Ugo Ugochukwu won his first FIA Formula 3 race in Melbourne after recovering from an early drop to third place.

• The Campos Racing driver controlled the race from the lead and finished ahead of Freddie Slater and Taito Kato.

• The victory places the Nigerian-American teenager at the top of the Drivers’ Championship standings after the opening round of the season.

Nigerian-American racing driver Ugo Ugochukwu secured his first victory in the FIA Formula 3 Championship with an impressive performance during the Feature Race in Melbourne.

The 18-year-old Campos Racing driver recovered from an early setback to take the chequered flag ahead of Britain’s Freddie Slater in a race marked by dramatic overtakes, penalties, and two Safety Car interruptions.

Ugochukwu made a promising start to the race but lost momentum at the opening corner, slipping to third place behind polesitter Théophile Nael and Freddie Slater. Despite the early challenge, the young driver quickly regained his rhythm and began closing the gap on the leaders.

By the second lap, he had reduced the distance to Slater to less than a second and executed a clean overtake at Turn 9 to move into second position. Moments later, he used the same corner to pass Nael, taking control of the race lead with a decisive move.

Maintaining control of the race

Once in front, Ugochukwu demonstrated strong race management, maintaining a steady pace and gradually increasing the gap between himself and the chasing drivers. By Lap 8, the leading trio had opened a two-second advantage over the rest of the field.

However, the race was briefly neutralised on Lap 9 when Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi crashed into the barriers at Turn 12, forcing race officials to deploy the Safety Car.

When racing resumed on Lap 12, Ugochukwu quickly rebuilt his lead and continued to control the race from the front, while Nael came under pressure from Slater in the battle for second place.

The race saw further developments behind the leading group as several drivers received penalties for incidents including false starts and collisions.

Nael was handed a five-second penalty for jumping the start, while Noah Stromsted later received a 10-second penalty after causing contact with Nicola Lacorte.

Slater eventually overtook Nael on Lap 20 using DRS at Turn 9 to move into second place. Shortly afterwards, the Safety Car was deployed again when Woohyun Shin stopped on the track with rear suspension damage.

With the race finishing under Safety Car conditions, Ugochukwu crossed the line to claim his maiden Formula 3 victory. Slater finished second, while Japan’s Taito Kato moved up to third place for ART Grand Prix after penalties were applied to Nael and Stromsted.