Hitech F3 heads into new territory for season finale
Round 9 – Madring – Preview
Hitech heads into new territory this weekend as the 2026 FIA Formula 3 season reaches its conclusion at the Madring, bringing the curtain down on the championship with a brand-new challenge in Madrid.
After eight rounds across some of motorsport’s most established circuits, the season ends with something completely different as FIA Formula 3 prepares to race at the new Madring for the first time.
For Hitech, the circuit is not entirely unknown. The team was in Madrid just two weeks ago for two days of F3 testing, giving the drivers and engineers their first opportunity to get to grips with the new venue before returning for its inaugural FIA Formula 3 race weekend.
With everyone starting from a relatively blank page, those two days provided an important first look at the circuit and the chance to build up valuable mileage and data. Now for the more interesting part: seeing how that knowledge translates when there are crucial points, positions and a final race weekend at stake.
Hitech arrives in Madrid looking to finish the season on a high after a frustrating weekend at Monza, where the results didn’t reflect some determined drives.
Jin Nakamura made significant progress from 29th in both races, fighting his way towards the points, while Fionn McLaughlin climbed 12 places from P26 to P14 in the Feature Race. Michael Shin had also been making good progress in the Sprint before being taken out in an incident on Lap 10 and again in the Feature Race.
Madrid offers one final opportunity to turn that fight into reward.
The weekend will also bring the curtain down on the drivers’ first full FIA Formula 3 campaigns.
Jin heads into the finale having already become an F3 race winner this season, with his victory at Spa-Francorchamps the standout result of a year in which he has shown he can fight at the front.
Fionn returns to the Madring following his strong recovery drive at Monza and will be looking to put together a complete weekend in Madrid and finish his rookie campaign with a good result.
Michael enjoyed a positive test at the circuit two weeks ago and will be hoping that experience provides a useful foundation for the finale.
A new circuit, two final races and one last opportunity to make the 2026 season count.
Paul Bellringer, Hitech F3 Team Manager:
“The Madring is an exciting way to finish the season. We’ve spent the year racing at circuits everyone knows pretty well and now we finish at somewhere completely new.
“We do have the benefit of having tested at the Madring two weeks ago, which was really useful. It gave the drivers a chance to learn the circuit and gave us plenty of information to take away and work through. But testing and racing are always two very different things, so there will still be plenty to learn once the weekend gets underway.”
Paul continued:
“Monza didn’t give us the results we wanted, although there were some determined drives and plenty of fight from the drivers. We’ve got one weekend left now and everyone wants to finish the season on a positive note.”
