Reaching the limit and adapting to different philosophies: How I Race with Brando Badoer

15 April 2026

Brando Badoer is in his second season in FIA Formula 3, but his fifth in single seater racing, and with that experience he knows exactly what he wants from his car.

In his edition of the How I Race feature, the Rodin Motorsport driver talks us through his driving style, what setup he prefers, and how he has adapted between the different teams and categories.

ON THE LIMIT AND FINDING THE BALANCE

“When I go racing, I like to drive a racing car as fast as possible. For that, you need to be as close as possible to the limit, which is always very difficult to reach.

“When you are over the limit, you're slower and when you drive under it, you're also slower.

“So you need to get as close as possible to the limit by driving clean and studying a lot before an event. You need to know what the ideal lines are and the history of the track to understand how to go as quickly as possible and as close as possible to that limit.

Badoer explained what he looks for the most in his car to go faster

“I think that the best car is a neutral car, and usually the car that goes faster is a slightly oversteering car. But what I'm always looking after is getting the car as neutral as possible to get to the limit.

ADAPTING BETWEEN TEAMS

“The biggest difference from team to team is the nationality. I think because in every different country, there is a slightly different culture. But what's common with each team is the goal is the same, to win.

“So you just need to learn the culture of the team and then get into it. When you start learning this you know how to deal with people that have the same goal as you.

“In the end, it's not that difficult because you all work for the same thing and that's quite easy to do.

“Every team has its own philosophy. There are teams that generally like to set a more oversteery car, some a more neutral car, and some with more understeer.

Badoer talked about what it takes to adapt between different teams

“Also the way the situation is handled during a weekend can be different. There are teams that start with a base and try to keep that base. Some teams are more open to exploring everything. Every team has its own philosophy.

“But as I said, their ultimate goal, together with the driver, is to go fast and to win races.”

LEARNING ABOUT TYRES

“It's all about a compromise. You need to often use opportunities to go forward, which are very likely to be on the first laps when there is a general mess. Those are the laps when you are really able to make places.

“Then normally there is a phase when you need to manage tyres, which is the second part of the race. If you do a good job on that part of the race, then you're able to make places again in the last part of the race.

“So that's normally the general rule. It depends on the race, on the temperatures, on the track, on the conditions, and if there is Safety Car or not. But normally that's the philosophy behind how you reason a race.”

Badoer revealed how preparation he puts into getting ready for a race weekend

TAKING NOTES ON THE WEEKEND

“I'm very analytical, I like to analyse things. I think last year was definitely a tough season, but very useful to learn a lot of things.

“I used the winter to go through these things and to analyse them. I could learn a lot and definitely be more prepared for this year.

“I think 2026 Brando is more prepared than the 2025 one. So, hopefully it was a very useful opportunity to perform better this year.”