Ugochukwu wins Formula 3 title

American-born Nigerian Ugo Ugochukwu was crowned the 2026 FIA Formula 3 champion in an easy season finale at Madring.

The 19-year-old entered the final round of the campaign behind Freddie Slater in the championship after a difficult weekend at Monza, but the Audi youngster suffered a disaster that opened the door for Ugochukwu.

Slater struggled during both qualifying sessions, citing his car’s poor feel, taking only 17th and eighth respectively, while Ugochukwu finished fourth and second respectively, as reported by Yahoo Sports.

That set the tone for both main races (an extra race was held to make up for the canceled Bahrain round) due to the difficulty of getting through the confines of the new Madring.

Ugochukwu placed fourth in the first feature race to tie on points with Slater, who crashed in Turn 19 while trying to get back into the top 10.

A similar race unfolded around Madring on Sunday morning, with Ugochukwu and Slater converting their qualifying positions of second and eighth respectively.

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That result secured the crown for Ugochukwu, the first American to win a title at this level since the founding of modern Formula 3.

“We did it, FIA F3 champions,” said Ugochukwu. “Super, super happy and I can’t thank the team enough for an incredible year. Today wasn’t a bad race with P2. We knew we had to keep it clean to get the title, and that’s what we did. No mistakes, we took it home and we’re super happy.”

It is a redemption title for Ugochukwu, after a poor first Formula 3 season in 2025, where he finished only 16th and subsequently dropped out of McLaren’s junior driver program.

It is another milestone for Ugochukwu, who won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 2024 and beat Slater to the Formula Regional Oceania Trophy series title, held in New Zealand, during the winter of 2026.

Ugochukwu was born in New York City on April 23, 2007 to Luca Orlandi, an Italian fashion designer and Oluchi Onweagba, a Nigerian model.

Her mother, Onweagba, competed in the inaugural Face of Africa in 1998, which was the first continental-level modeling competition, organized by South African channel M-Net in collaboration with Elite Model Management. He won the contest and moved to New York shortly after.