Campos Racing continued their impressive form at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya as Théophile Naël secured his third pole position of this FIA Formula 3 season, leading a Campos 1-2 in a tightly contested qualifying session.
The Spanish team had dominated the practice session earlier in the day, locking out the top three positions with Naël ahead of teammates Ugo Ugochukwu and Ernesto Rivera. With soaring track temperatures making tyre management crucial on the hard-compound Pirellis, the question heading into Qualifying was whether Campos could repeat that feat when it mattered most.
Campos Set the Early Pace
The first representative lap times arrived seven minutes into the session. Naël initially set the benchmark with a 1:29.384 before Rivera improved on that effort. Moments later, Ugochukwu raised the bar further, posting a 1:28.707 to move to the top of the timesheets.
Elsewhere, the opening stages were not without drama. Louis Sharp suffered an excursion through Turn 9, sending his PREMA machine into the gravel, while track limits quickly emerged as a major talking point. Fionn McLaughlin became one of several drivers to have a lap deleted after exceeding the limits at the exit of Turn 9.
As the session developed, Taito Kato and Enzo Deligny briefly disrupted the Campos stranglehold by moving into second and third, respectively. However, Ugochukwu’s pace proved formidable, opening a gap of 0.491 seconds over Kato before the field returned to the pit lane midway through the session. Deligny later lost his best effort to track limits, promoting Brando Badoer and Naël into the top five behind the leading trio.
Naël Strikes Back
With just under half the session remaining, attention turned to the decisive second runs. Naël delivered when it mattered most, producing a stunning 1:28.263 to reclaim provisional pole by three tenths of a second. At the same time, Freddie Slater produced a strong lap to climb into the top five.
Home favourite Bruno del Pino briefly delighted the local crowd by moving into second place, but the celebration was short-lived. Both Ugochukwu and Brando Badoer found further improvements, slotting into second and third, respectively, and reducing the margin at the front. At one stage, a mere 0.039 seconds separated Naël and Ugochukwu in the fight for pole position.
Late Improvements Shake Up the Order
The closing stages saw several drivers searching for one final improvement. Yam Yamakoshi entered the battle with a competitive lap to move into sixth before finding even more pace later in the session. Meanwhile, Badoer edged ahead of Del Pino for third, while Rivera ensured all three Campos cars remained firmly inside the top five.
Further back, McLaughlin’s difficult afternoon continued. Multiple lap deletions left him without a representative time for much of the session, placing him under immense pressure heading into the final minutes. With just one minute remaining, Woohyun Shin suffered an off at Turn 9, damaging his front wing. The Korean driver was able to continue and return safely to the pit lane.
Pole Secured as Naël Stays Perfect
As the chequered flag fell, Kato improved to fourth, but the spotlight remained on the battle for pole. Yamakoshi produced an excellent final effort of 1:28.398 to leap into third position for VAR, while Ugochukwu was unable to improve on his final flying lap.
That left Naël firmly at the top of the order, maintaining his perfect qualifying record in 2026 and securing pole position number three of the season. Campos ended the day with a commanding one-two finish in Qualifying, with Naël leading Ugochukwu, while Yamakoshi’s late improvement secured the final place in the top three.
Naël’s latest pole position means the Campos driver remains unbeaten over a single lap in 2026, and he will start Saturday’s Feature Race from the best possible position as the Spanish team looks to convert its qualifying dominance into victory.