Hiyu Yamakoshi Season Review: 'A positive surprise' after multiple podiums in 2026

Hiyu Yamakoshi's debut FIA Formula 3 campaign was 'better than expected' according to the Japanese driver.

He earned a maiden pole position and multiple podiums across the 2026 season, results he had hoped for but not expected prior to the year getting underway.

Reflecting on the season overall, Yamakoshi says that things had gone well and he'd surprised himself at points.

"I think it's like 9 out of 10, I'd say. Most of the things I achieved I didn't expect before the season, especially after the first round.

"We had a three-month break and we learned a lot, we improved a lot from Monaco all the way to the end. For me, the results were way more than what we expected."

Looking at what went well, the Van Amersfoort Racing driver says he and the team adapated well during the extended break in the year following Melbourne.

He says that they returned to Monte Carlo with a better understanding of how to optimise races, and throughout the heart of the season in Europe, he was able to achieve strong results.

"I think I understood the F3 car quite a lot during the break. I was obviously always thinking during the race about tyre management, how to manage our position with tyre strategy, the track conditions, the track temperatures. Everything like that is information that's really crucial.

"That makes it different from what I've done last year. The strongest weekend was definitely Barcelona. My first time in the top three in the championship after the disqualification in the Monaco Sprint Race.

"We gained a lot, I think it was around 23 or something points. It was very crucial at that stage in the championship as well. So I'd say Barcelona.

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Yamakoshi secured podiums in Monte Carlo until disqualification took that result away, but then responded immediately in Barcelona with P2 in the Feature Race. He added a pole position to his 2026 record at Red Bull Ring, before returning to the podium in Spa.

Third in the Monza Sprint Race was his final rostrum visit of the campaign, but he says he was surprised to be competing at the sharp end so often, impressing himself in the process.

"I expected I could fight in the sprint races, top three all the time. But I really didn't expect I could fight in the Feature Race for the win.

"I think I've fought for the win four times in Barcelona, Spa, Red Bull Ring and Monza. But still, I really didn't expect it. Everything was more than what we expected. The team was really impressed me and I impressed myself as well."

Overall, Yamakoshi's campaign was successful enough that he is now competing with VAR in FIA Formula 2, debuting at Round 12 of the season in Baku.

He will be aiming to hit the ground running in the step up, something that he says impacted his campaign in F3 earlier in the year.

"I'd say race management is what I learned the most. That's what happened in Barcelona, Spa. Got DRS before it was too late and managed the position when we wanted to.

"Qualifying is always difficult, it's all about how we can put in a lap. It's more about how much the driver can do. But in the race, it's more about how we can manage the position and how we can manage the tyres.

"I think that's my strong point. But the big lesson this year is from the start of the season. We were really fast in testing, always in the top 10. But suddenly, in Melbourne, we're P20. Not the team, but for myself, I'm P22.

"My team-mates are P11, P12, and so we lost many points. I think the potential is that we could have got 10 points at least from that weekend."