Formula 3 at Monza delivered a weekend that changed shape almost every time the cars returned to the circuit. MP Motorsport owned Practice, Freddie Slater struck in Qualifying, Taito Kato surged through Saturday, and Nicola Lacorte stole Sunday at home. The championship fight also refused to settle. Slater looked ready to take control after the Sprint, only for Sunday trouble to hand Ugo Ugochukwu another opening.
The penultimate round gave us maiden victories, technical drama, unexpected recoveries, and another reminder of Formula 3’s depth.
MP Motorsport fired the first warning
Friday morning belonged completely to MP Motorsport. Alessandro Giusti set a 1:37.445 to lead Tuukka Taponen and Mattia Colnaghi in a clean team sweep of the top three. Giusti also established the Formula 3 lap record around Monza during the session. It was the clearest sign yet that MP had arrived with genuine front running speed.
The bigger story came at the end. Championship contender Ugo Ugochukwu made contact with Matteo De Palo on the main straight. Both cars stopped with damage, while the stewards later held Ugochukwu responsible. He received a five place grid penalty for both races.
That moment shaped the rest of his weekend before Qualifying had even started. It also gave Slater an early advantage in a title fight where small mistakes now carried major consequences. Slater had arrived at Monza eight points ahead of Ugochukwu after taking the championship lead in Budapest.
MP could not convert its Practice sweep into pole, but the pace was real. Taponen eventually turned that promise into second place on Sunday, giving MP Motorsport its first podium of the season.
Slater delivered when Friday mattered most
Qualifying gave Freddie Slater exactly what he needed. The TRIDENT driver topped Group B with a 1:38.114 and claimed pole for the Feature Race. His title rival had a very different afternoon. Ugochukwu ran wide at Turn 1 during his only meaningful attempt in Group A. With no time left for another lap, he finished only 10th in his group. His earlier grid penalty pushed him even deeper into trouble for both races.
Matteo De Palo initially produced the fastest Group A time and appeared set for an all TRIDENT front row. That result disappeared after scrutineering. His car failed the minimum diffuser height requirement and De Palo was disqualified from Qualifying. The FIA measured the left side of the diffuser three millimetres below the required height.
Nicola Lacorte therefore moved closer to the front, having already impressed with second in Group B. That became the foundation for the biggest surprise of Formula 3 at Monza. Slater had done his job. Pole brought two championship points and control of Sunday’s start. At that stage, the weekend looked increasingly tilted toward the British rookie.
Kato turned frustration into a breakthrough
Saturday belonged to Taito Kato. The ART Grand Prix driver started ninth and carved his way through a race full of movement and pressure. By the finish, he had his first Formula 3 victory.
Freddie Slater made the result even more significant. Starting 12th, he climbed to second and challenged Kato after the final restart. Kato held firm, while Hiyu Yamakoshi completed the podium in third.
The victory landed at the right time for Kato. His 2026 campaign had lacked any real rhythm. Strong points in Melbourne, Spielberg, and Spa mixed with several empty weekends, such as Budapest which brought nothing, made Monza an important response.
Kato himself admitted that recent rounds had frustrated both driver and team. Monza provided the answer. He scored again on Sunday with third place, turning the Italian weekend into his strongest points haul of the season.
Those results lifted Kato to 71 points. He now sits level with Brando Badoer and Yamakoshi, leaving all three firmly involved in the fight behind the championship leaders. For Slater, Saturday looked even better in championship terms. Ugochukwu finished outside the points in 14th. Slater therefore stretched his advantage to 17 points before Sunday.
Formula 3 at Monza seemed ready to become his decisive title statement. Twenty four hours later, that picture had changed again.
Lacorte produced the home shock of the season
Nicola Lacorte entered Monza with only six points from the first seven rounds. He left with 33, a maiden victory, and the biggest result of DAMS Lucas Oil’s Formula 3 project.
His weekend had already started strongly with a place near the front in Qualifying. Ninth in the Sprint added two more points, but Sunday transformed everything. Lacorte started third and stayed composed while the order shifted ahead. Kanato Le took the lead from Slater, Kato moved forward, and Slater began losing pace. Lacorte kept attacking.
By Lap 10, the Italian had taken the lead from Le. Tuukka Taponen later emerged as his main threat, but Lacorte never surrendered control. He crossed the line first to become the first Italian Formula 3 driver to win at Monza.
The result also delivered DAMS Lucas Oil its first victory in the championship. Lacorte became the 13th different race winner of 2026, setting a new Formula 3 record for different winners in one season.
That made the moment bigger than one driver’s breakthrough. Lacorte had finished 31st in the 2025 standings and returned with DAMS for a second campaign. Monza finally showed what that continuity could produce.
Ugochukwu rescued a weekend that kept going wrong
Ugo Ugochukwu had every reason to leave Friday frustrated. The Practice collision earned him penalties, while his Qualifying mistake buried him down the order. Saturday brought only 14th place as Slater stretched the championship gap.
Sunday somehow became a rescue mission.
Ugochukwu started 19th after his penalty and immediately faced another setback. Campos teammate Théophile Nael hit the rear of his car at Turn 1, spinning him to 29th. A points finish looked almost impossible.
What followed was one of the drives of the weekend. Ugochukwu worked through the field and reached eighth by the chequered flag. Those four points mattered because Slater’s race unravelled at the front.
The championship leader lost positions before reporting a car issue and retiring. His pole points kept his total moving, but the missed Feature Race opportunity proved costly.
Slater leaves Formula 3 at Monza on 141 points. Ugochukwu sits second on 126, only 15 behind. Considering how badly the weekend started, the American limited the damage remarkably well.
Madrid now becomes a genuine title decider rather than a formality.
Final Thoughts from Monza
Formula 3 at Monza delivered exactly the kind of weekend a penultimate round should produce. Nothing stayed comfortable for long.
Slater took pole and strengthened his position on Saturday, then lost a major Sunday opportunity. Ugochukwu endured setback after setback, yet somehow reduced the damage by the end. Their 15 point gap keeps the Drivers’ Championship alive.
Elsewhere, Monza belonged to the unexpected names. Kato turned an inconsistent stretch into a maiden win and another podium. Lacorte produced an even bigger breakthrough on home soil. Taponen finally gave MP Motorsport the podium its Friday pace had promised.
The wider championship remains remarkably close behind the leading pair. Rivera holds third on 76 points, Nael follows on 75, while Badoer, Kato, and Yamakoshi all sit on 71.
One round remains, and Madrid adds another layer of uncertainty as a new venue. Slater holds the advantage, but Monza showed how quickly a comfortable margin can shrink.
Formula 3 will return in Madrid from September 11 to 13 for the final round of the 2026 season.
Featured Image Credit: Red Bull Content Pool