Interview
‘I have my confidence back’ – Le excited for 2026 campaign after strong winter preparation
A strong winter of work behind the scenes and racing in New Zealand has given Kanato Le his confidence back, as he previewed his exciting step up to Formula 3 in 2026 with ART Grand Prix.
The Japanese driver and the team joined forces for the first time last year, competing in both the Formula Regional European and Middle East campaigns.
After a season that yielded one victory, ART and Le are set to continue together for another year, this time in F3, and the 18-year-old is excited to get going.
“I'm feeling good, I am really looking forward to racing in F3,” said Le. “It's one of the steps you to get to F1 and being on the big stage with F1 is really exciting. Racing with ART as well, I know the team and I have a good relationship with them.
“I'm really looking forward to it. Also, the grid is very competitive, so I'm looking forward to racing as well. I think it should be a really nice year.”
Le’s preparations for this campaign began at the post-season tests in Jerez, Barcelona and Imola, before he went to New Zealand to race in the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy, alongside several of his F3 rivals.
The ART driver wound up sixth in the Standings, winning one race and achieving an extra five podiums. For him, these weeks were critical to building his confidence back up ahead of Round 1 in Melbourne.
“It has been a few months since the post-season test,” explained Le. “Looking back, I think in these short few months, I was able to be better as a person and driver with all the experience I got.
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“Obviously, during the winter break you have no chance to drive any car. So it was nice getting back into racing and qualifying against some of the F3 drivers that I'm racing against this year. So for that, I think it has been a really good start of the year.
“Four weeks of racing against a competitive grid as well. I think I was able to gain some confidence, and I also got to know some of the drivers as well that I'm racing.
“I had a really good campaign in the championship, scored some podiums and got a win as well against these very top-level drivers.
“I had been a confidence boost after quite a hard season last year. I gained my confidence back. I know I can be able to fight for the wins with these really good drivers.”
In addition to that, racing in New Zealand allowed Le to develop his adaptation skills, something he knows will be important for the upcoming season, with their being just 45 minutes of Free Practice before Qualifying.
“I think obviously in New Zealand, every single track was new to me,” he explained. “I think the main focus was obviously for F3, there's only one Practice. The main focus was to adapt really quickly and try to be as quick as possible.
“I think I was able to do that for all four tracks and that gives me confidence that I can also do it in an F3. It was a really good preparation.”
Le was speaking ahead of pre-season testing in Barcelona, where he was seventh fastest on the morning of Day 2 when the Qualifying simulation runs were at their fastest.
For the ART rookie, his main focus over the next few weeks is to simply enjoy the experience, while also doing the work he needs to do to be ready for the opening rounds.
“Obviously, I need to go through all the plans and get all the data possible,” said Le ahead of Round 1 in Melbourne.
“Also, I need to learn the car again and gain some confidence back in the F3 car. Then I can just start preparing for Melbourne, but I think enjoying it is the main thing.”