Ernesto Rivera Season Review: Mental resilience, pure speed and more to come

While it was hardly the start Ernesto Rivera would have been hoping for in 2026, seventh in his rookie FIA Formula 3 campaign capped off a positive year for the Mexican driver.

Driving for Campos Racing and helping the Spanish outfit to a second consecutive Teams' Championship and was vying for a top three finish in the Drivers' Standings in his own right.

A difficult final round in Madrid proved costly, but that hardly detracts from what was a very impressive debut in the Championship.

His season started on the worst note possible as injury ahead of pre-season testing left him facing an uphill struggle and behind his rivals in terms of preparation.

"I think it has gone really well, for sure better than what I expected and probably what most people expected," Rivera explained.

"I missed the start the season because of the back injury and also missed the pre-season test. But since Monaco I've been on it honestly. For sure I've made some mistakes and lost some points but I think it's been a really good rookie campaign."

Going into depth on the struggles he endured in the early months of the season, Rivera explained that it was a challenge mentally as well as physically.

"I was having a tough campaign in New Zealand, in the Formula Regional Oceania, and yeah honestly I just wanted to get back to Europe and start with the test in F3 and with Campos.

"It was tough having the injury in the last race of the championship in New Zealand. I ended up having to go to Mexico, and in that first week, I was only able to walk, not do anything else and I was just sitting there watching the times of the test and yeah, it was tough mentally the first week.

"After that I just said to myself there's nothing you can do, just try to treat the recovery as positively as possible and let's see if you can come back to Melbourne.

"We decided I couldn't race in Melbourne because I was not even going to the gym yet, I still had a lot of pain.

"I lost a lot of muscle. I was like six kilos lighter because of the muscle loss, so it was tough to be as prepared as possible for Monaco."

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When he did get in the F3 car, he delivered instantly. P5 on Feature Race debut around the streets of Monte Carlo underlined his potential, and the 2026 season only grew from there for Rivera.

Three races later, he was standing on the top step of an F3 podium for the first time, victor of the Spielberg Sprint Race and the strong start caught the Campos driver by surprise also.

"I thought I could do good, not as good as I've done honestly. I didn't have such high expectations, but yeah I think I made a lot of progress. I've tried to work really hard and improve in all the areas as possible.

"Qualifying, I've always been there, but maybe the races I've struggled a bit more with tyre deg and I've been improving quite a lot. I hope to carry these learnings for the rest of my career."

After the Sprint win, the next target was a Feature Race victory, and he didn't have to wait long. It arrived around the circuit he rates as his favourite on the calendar, and it was arguably his most complete drive in the Championship.

Rivera says it was a showcase of his learnings across the season, from tyre and race management to wheel-to-wheel battling and working with his team.

"For sure winning in Spa is my highlight. It's my favourite track of Europe and I did a great race. The car was great, tyre management was great and yeah, overall it was a good weekend. It's where I gained a lot of points, climbed the standings with that win and I think that is the highlight of the season."

After a challenging campaign, with setbacks, peaks and highlight moments, Rivera says that there are plenty of takeaways from the 2026 campaign. The biggest point however is self-belief.

"I've got to trust myself more. Sometimes last year I wasn't so confident in myself and after this year, I know that I can do it.

"I think it has helped me a lot, for my confidence, I think that's where I improved a lot away from the driving side of things. I started to trust myself more and handle those pressure scenarios better."