Kato keen to return to the podium before seasons end after ‘unlucky’ run of form

Taito Kato has been reflecting on his debut Formula 3 season – looking at the positives and negatives from the 2026 campaign.

The ART Grand Prix driver’s season got off to a great start finishing third at the opening race weekend at the Melbourne Feature Race.

But in the six rounds since, Kato has finished in the points just six times and has not yet returned to the rostrum.

Going into the summer break, the Japanese driver is now down to 12th in the Drivers’ Standings with 45 points. While the results have not been what he wanted, he sees some positives from his season.

“I think I have been able to adjust quite well to Formula 3,” he said. “There's obviously not so much track time in Formula 3. In FRECA, there was much more on track time. We had two FPs and then two qualifyings.

“But Formula 3 is always 40 minutes Practice, and then one qualifying. So, it’s the biggest difference, but even with not so much on track time, I have adjusted quite well. On the track I have been driving for the first time in places like Melbourne, Monaco, and Silverstone.

“I'm not so experienced myself, but I have adjusted quite well myself. So I think that is my strongest point.”

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Kato has made a name for himself this season for pulling off daring overtaking moves in the midfield.

However, if you ask him, it’s something the Japanese rookie would rather not do.

“I think during the race, the battles, the wheel-to-wheel I'm really strong,” he said. “I am able to make big moves, so that is my strong point.

“But to be honest, I don't like battles so much. I want to win from first position and drive alone. But it is how it is, that’s racing. It's impossible to do P1 to P1 everytime in Formula 3, it’s always difficult.

“Anyway I think I'm quite happy with the performance this season. Just a bit too unlucky and too many mistakes, from my side and the team side as well. So if we can put it all together, for sure, the results are there.

“But it's always really difficult to put it all together in this category. Formula 3 is always really tight, it’s a really high-level competition. So if you make one mistake, that means you've lost 10, 20 positions. So it's really difficult.”

Kato heads into the final two rounds after a point-less outing in Budapest, but he still has desires on making it back into the podium before the season’s end.

“We have made a lot of effort with the simulator,” he said. “We tried some changes to the setup for Spa, and also, we have already done some work for Madrid in the simulator.

“It is a new track, so we have some data, which is quite good. We are doing a lot of preparation for the race weekend, and we have had a lot of meetings. I think everything was correct. Everything was really great. The preparation is almost perfect.

“We need a bit more preparation during the race weekend just to make sure we are ready to fight for the race weekend. We want to fight for the podium and also hopefully get some wins. But for sure, my target is a consistent result in qualifying.

“I want to make sure we are inside the top 12. If you are inside the top 12, you have some good opportunities in both races. So make sure you are consistent in the qualifying and then you can fight for the podium and for the victory. That is my goal for this season.”

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