UGO UGOCHUKWU declared, “They can’t say anything now, we’ve won everything,” over team radio after completing a remarkable comeback to become the 2026 FIA Formula 3 champion.

The 19-year-old Campos Racing driver became the first American to win the FIA F3 championship after finishing second in the final race of the season at Madrid’s new Madring circuit.

Ugochukwu had arrived in Madrid 15 points behind British title rival Freddie Slater, but by the time the pair lined up for Sunday’s championship decider, they were level on 141 points.

“We knew we just had to keep it clean to clinch the title, and that’s what we did. No mistakes, brought it home and super pleased,” Ugochukwu said after the race.

But understanding how Ugochukwu managed to erase a 15-point deficit before the finale requires explaining an unusual F3 weekend.

A normal Formula 3 round features two races: a shorter Sprint Race and the main Feature Race.

Madrid was different.

Following the loss of the Bahrain round earlier in the season, the championship finale featured three races, with a Sprint Race and the first Feature Race taking place on Saturday before a second Feature Race on Sunday.

Ugochukwu began the weekend on 126 points to Slater’s 141.

He finished eighth in Saturday’s Sprint Race, collecting three points and reducing the deficit to 12. Later that day, Ugochukwu finished fourth in the first Feature Race while Slater failed to score.

Those results wiped out the remaining gap.

By Sunday morning, Ugochukwu and Slater were level on 141 points and the championship had effectively become a one-race shootout.

Ugochukwu started that final race from second, while Slater lined up eighth.

With overtaking proving difficult around Madring, Ugochukwu kept himself out of trouble and maintained second place to the chequered flag. Slater finished where he started in eighth.

The result gave Ugochukwu the championship by 14 points and completed a remarkable turnaround from the 15-point deficit he had faced just two days earlier.

A WINNING JOURNEY

His declaration over the radio that “we’ve won everything” also carried some weight.

The FIA Formula 3 championship is the latest addition to an already impressive list of achievements for a driver who only turned 19 in April.

Born in New York to Nigerian mother Oluchi Onweagba and Italian father Luca Orlandi, Ugochukwu’s journey into motorsport began when he was just six years old.

His father, a fashion designer who had also raced when he was younger, introduced him to karting.

Ugochukwu has previously recalled being taken to try a go-kart one weekend and enjoying it so much that he returned the following weekend, when he unexpectedly found himself taking part in a race.

What began as a childhood weekend activity quickly became much more serious.

By 2020, Ugochukwu had established himself among the world’s leading young karters, winning the FIA OK-Junior European Championship.

He subsequently moved into single-seater racing, finishing third in the British F4 Championship in 2022 before enjoying a breakthrough campaign the following year.

In 2023, he became the inaugural Euro 4 champion, finished runner-up in the Italian F4 Championship and took third in the UAE F4 Championship.

Then came one of the biggest victories of his young career.

Ugochukwu won the prestigious Macau Grand Prix in 2024, becoming the first American to win the famous street race since Bob Earl in 1981.

He stepped up to FIA Formula 3 with PREMA Racing in 2025, enduring a difficult rookie campaign in which he finished 16th overall with two podiums.

But 2026 has been a very different story.

Before his second F3 campaign had even begun, Ugochukwu travelled to New Zealand and won the Formula Regional Oceania Championship.

He then joined Campos Racing for his sophomore F3 season and immediately made his intentions clear by winning the opening Feature Race in Melbourne.

Another dominant victory followed at Silverstone, and his consistency kept him firmly in the championship fight before his dramatic title triumph in Madrid.

MOTORSPORT AND FASHION

Ugochukwu also comes from a family already accustomed to performing on the international stage.

His mother, Oluchi Onweagba, is one of Nigeria’s most successful international models. Her career took her from Lagos to the world’s major fashion markets after she won the inaugural M-Net Face of Africa competition as a teenager.

His father, Luca Orlandi, is an Italian fashion designer, but it was his own interest in racing that helped introduce his son to motorsport.

Ugochukwu has credited both parents with supporting the enormous commitment required to pursue a professional racing career from such a young age.

That journey eventually required him to leave the United States and base himself in Europe as his racing became increasingly serious.

He had already been travelling between America and Europe for competitions from around the age of 10 or 11 before eventually relocating during the latter stages of his karting career.

Now, the youngster who first climbed into a kart at six years old has become the first American FIA Formula 3 champion.

And his target has never been a secret.

Formula 1.

The FIA Formula 3 championship puts him another step closer.