Surpassing expectations and targets to hit: Hiyu Yamakoshi on his 2026 season so far

It has been an impressive rookie season from Hiyu Yamakoshi. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver has secured two podium finishes already this year alongside a pole position, and is hoping to return to the rostrum before the season is out.

The Japanese driver admits that his fast start to the campaign surprised even him, but that he has had a shift in mentality in the subsequent rounds, and is aiming ever higher.

"I really didn't expect to get in a pole position in Red Bull Ring. A podium was expected at some point, but not in the Feature Race. I expected I'd have some podiums in the Sprints, but actually my first podium was in Barcelona, P2. Actually, we were chasing P1 all the way.

"It was really, really good. For me, I think I made very good progress from last year and from the past few years. Those results really have given me extra confidence going into every race weekend.

"For me, the biggest thing for my mentality is that I realised I'm not slow. I can compete with the top drivers, the top F1 junior team drivers. I can compete with them, actually I can fight with them, actually I'm sometimes faster than them. That really makes me extra confident.

Yamakoshi is part of a VAR team that has one driver in their second year and another rookie alongside him. Bruno Del Pino has brought his learnings from 2025, while Deligny has been a solid benchmark to rate Yamakoshi against so far this year.

For the Japanese driver, it has been a combination that's worked well and brought strong results across the board for the team. All three have been on the podium this season, and for Yamakoshi, it has been a benefit to learn from both, as has an environment at VAR he already feels at home within.

"Obviously Enzo is a rookie, same as me, learning as much as we can from Bruno. In the first few rounds, I learned a lot from Bruno, and the team really helped me to put me in the top 10, top 12 all the time.

"That really helped particularly with tyres. Even from F4, I had different engineers every year telling me, the one thing you need is to be really good in tyre management, which is really crucial in F3 and F2.

"I think the familiarity is really helpful. For me, I know everybody from F4. Of course engineers are different, mechanics are different, but I know them, they know me, and they trust me. That's the reason why stayed with VAR in F3.

"I think also braking, technique-wise, I can brake hard but nicely, complimenting my driving style."

With two rounds remaining and three Feature Races, Yamakoshi is clear he is aiming for a return to the podium before the final chequered flag of 2026.

That's something he feels is well within range should he and VAR maximise their Fridays at Monza and Madrid, with a top 12 in Qualifying the target.

He will be using the break as a time to reset and not think about racing too much in order to be fully rested and ready for the final two rounds.

"I want to get some more podiums. From my mentality side, even on the race weekend, when I'm back to the hotel, I'm completely off from racing. So basically for my summer break, I'll just take a break as much as I can, chill away from racing, but not gaining any weight, don't eat too much, obviously! But for me, the most important thing is during the break, just rest as much as I can.

"If we can have good qualifying results, we have more chances to win. So, let's see. For me, I have really good confidence."