Théophile Nael: ‘We are pushing a lot’ ahead of 2026 season

Théophile Nael is gearing up for year two in FIA Formula 3, and the Frenchman has plenty of momentum behind him ahead of the new season.

He became the latest driver to secure victory in Macau, joining a famous list of drivers to have won on their way up the junior ranks.

Moving over to reigning Teams’ Champions Campos Racing, Nael is optimistic that his Macau win is a sign of things to come. Speaking ahead of pre-season testing, the 18-year-old talked about how his preparations had been going during the break.

“We are pushing quite a lot,” he explained. “I’ve been working with my engineer to get up to speed as much as possible and I feel really that we know each other very well.

“Winning Macau - of course, the victory helps a lot in terms of confidence. As well, I think it was the 2025 season. It was already a good first season in F3 for a rookie so, yeah, I'm really looking forward to the 2026 season.

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“I had a Campos engineer with me in Macau so, even before the start of this campaign, it was a good choice to finish the last season with a Campos engineer. Obviously, this victory helped a lot in terms of confidence and the whole season was really, really good, especially when you finish one season like that.”

Nael finished inside the top 10 in his rookie campaign, achieving a best result of P2 twice across the season. He’s now looking to take the next step and become a race winner in F3, something he feels he’s more than capable of doing.

In Campos, he also has confidence in his team that they’ll deliver him a package he can extract to the maximum and chase results right from the beginning in 2026.

“It's always really helpful to prepare the new season with positive momentum. But now that it's time for a new chapter, new team, second year in this category, we know that F3 is not that easy, and in fact it is going to be really, really hard.”

“Every race means a lot in terms of points, and of confidence as well. So, yeah, let's see. But, of course, Macau has been a really, really good race for me and for sure my best race so far.

“It’s a nice bonus to be joining the reigning Teams’ Champions. I will be trying to do my best every session, but seeing as they have just won the Teams’ Championship already, they are bringing a lot already.

“I hope they will bring me a lot during the season as well. But the approach, the atmosphere is totally different to what I was used to. To be honest, Spanish people and French people, we are quite close in terms of mentality. So, I think it's nice to join this team.”

Looking ahead to the Barcelona test and then Round 1 in Melbourne, the Campos driver says that he’s feeling more than ready for what’s to come.

Albert Park was the scene of his first F3 podium, as he secured P3 in last year’s Feature Race. He’ll be aiming to go at least one spot better this time around.

“I’m just focusing on what I'm doing, the job will be the same as last season. Now, my job will be to put everything together every weekend, every Qualifying especially. For me, that will be the key.

“I'm really looking forward to this season. I'm preparing really, really hard in terms of physical work, mentality, consistency, everything. I'm trying to put everything for this season.”