Interview
Ready to targets both titles: Campos Racing pre-season review
After claiming their first FIA Formula 3 Teams’ Title in 2025, Adrian Campos says his team, Campos Racing are aiming to fight for both Championships in 2026.
The Team Principal was talking at the end of the third and final day of pre-season testing in Barcelona, where the Spanish outfit had three good days of learning – completing 605 laps.
When times were at their fastest though on the morning of Day 2, Campos found themselves down the order – Théophile Nael in 12th, Ugo Ugochukwu in 20th and Patrick Heuzenroeder, deputing for the injured Ernesto Rivera, in 24th.
But as Campos explained, his team were trialling a few setup ideas, before finding a balance that worked better on the morning of Day 3, with Nael first, Ugochukwu third and Heuzenroeder sixth.
Long runs followed in the afternoon, before the chequered flag was waved, bringing an end to what Campos felt was a very useful three days.
“I think it was quite productive,” said Campos on testing. “I think the team has done a good job during the winter to prepare some test items to see where we can improve because there is still a lot of room with a car that we have had for one season. So that's what we did.
“Today we tried to understand what the best combination was, and this was why we were a bit more up there in the times. But I think we have done all the tests that we wanted.”
When asked how Campos found the balance between testing items on their car, while also trying to make their new drivers comfortable ahead of Melbourne, their team boss says it helps having experienced personnel within their setup.
“We have two drivers – in Ugo and Theo – that already have some experience,” he explained. “They already have one year in Formula 3, and they were testing with us last year. So I think they were quite good and adapted to the car that we have.
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“Unfortunately, we couldn't have Ernesto with us here. We had Pat, who is a driver that will race with us in another championship, and it's been surprising how fast he adapted to the new car.
“It's a car that he has never driven and he felt very comfortable with the team and with the car, and straight away he was up there in the times. I think it took him only a few laps to adapt to this new car for him.”
With timings tight on both Qualifying simulations and long runs, Campos was asked whether he and his team were keeping an eye on their rivals’ progress or completing focusing on themselves.
“Obviously to understand a bit more if the things that we are testing are good or not, we need to compare with the others,” he explained.
“Obviously, we need to compare and see what the others are doing in each moment and then take a conclusion on if the test items are positive or not.
“Also a part of it is the feedback from the drivers, which we need to know if the car is quick. We try to focus on ourselves but also, we always need to keep an eye on the others and see what the others are doing.”
Campos head into the season looking to retain their Teams’ Championship, but also with an eye on winning the Drivers’ title, following a 2025 campaign where Nikola Tsolov finished second, just ahead of Mari Boya, with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in seventh.
While the results at the end were strong, the Spanish team feel there are areas for them to improve, especially after a tough start to 2025.
In the first half of the campaign, Campos achieved two victories, four podiums in total, but also had 14 non-scoring results – two of those being DNFs.
However, in the second part of the season, they won four races, secured nine podiums, with just nine results where they finished outside of the points.
Campos says improving their form in the first five rounds is a huge focus for him team.
“We had a lot of bad luck in the first two maybe, even three events,” he explained. “If we can start properly in Melbourne, which is something that didn't happen last year, we can even have more chances at the end of the year.
“We want to at least be able to arrive to the last race being a title contender with our drivers, not only as a team. This is obviously our main focus for next year. This year we want to go for the drivers' title also.”