Bruno Michel’s Spa-Francorchamps and Budapest Debrief

After all of the action from Spa-Francorchamps and Budapest, the FIA Formula 3 campaign is nearing the final stages of what has been a thrilling title fight.

Freddie Slater took over at the top after his maiden victory in the Championship around the Hungaroring, while Ugo Ugochukwu will want to overturn the narrow deficit come Monza.

Giving us his take on the action we’ve seen ahead of the summer break, FIA Formula 3 CEO Bruno Michel reviews and gives his thoughts on the latest chapter of the season.

A NEW WINNER AT SPA

“It was a very good race weekend. Spa is always a quite demanding track and it's very interesting.

“The Sprint Race was good, we had a new race winner, Jin Nakamura, and he did a very good race. It’s good to see Hitech back in the picture because they had not been there for a while. So, all together, it was good.

“Nakamura drove a clean race, got his overtakes done when he needed to and showed great control once he was into clean air and at the front of the pack.

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“In the Feature, we had another winner, Ernesto Rivera, and he did a fantastic race. It’s a shame that he missed the first race weekend of the Championship due to injury, because now he's fighting at the front. He's a strong driver, Campos is doing very, very well and he's up there with his teammates.

“He isn’t far off teammate Théophile Nael in the Standings, now just three points back from third place in the Standings. The Mexican driver has hit a great run of form heading into the final rounds and looks to be improving every weekend as he makes up for his delayed start to the 2026 campaign.”

THE TITLE FIGHTERS

“In terms of the Championship, because Ugo had a difficult weekend in Belgium, he didn't score points, while Freddie was on pole, didn't win, but he's on the podium again.

“Campos remain the team to beat, quite a bit ahead of TRIDENT. Let's see if they can catch up, but Campos has got a solid edge in the Championship at the moment.

“Freddie Slater finally won a race at the Hungaroring, and at the perfect time. I must say, he had a very, very strong race on Sunday, and now he's leading the Championship.

“Ugo has been very, very strong as well in Hungary. He started from P6, overtook quite a few cars, and there was a great fight between the two at the top of the Championship, so it's getting extremely exciting.

“It's very difficult to know who will come out on top. Freddie is now going to have more confidence because he's done a very strong job in Budapest, but Ugo is strong, and he's a great racer. So, let's see.”

SUMMER BREAK AND WHAT COMES NEXT

“We head into the summer break after a thrilling couple of rounds that has helped shape an already exciting title battle between Freddie and Ugo.

“I have no doubt they will both have more highlight moments in the races to come, and whoever comes out on top will be a worthy Champion in the end.

“Next up we go to Monza, a circuit that always delivers thrilling racing no matter what, and we’ve seen time and time again how title fights can change lap by lap and even corner by corner.

“Then, we go to the Madring for the first time. Teams will have a test there ahead of the race weekend in what will be a vital two-days of track time.

“There’s an extra Feature Race for the ninth and final round of the season, so there is still plenty of points to play for. Let’s see who comes out on top!”