F3 Drivers reflect on their Melbourne experience

13 March 2026

The first round of the season took us to Melbourne, Australia for a unique challenge and a circuit that’s truly like no other.

From overcoming the time difference to experiencing the passionate Australian fandom and getting to grips with a new circuit, we asked some drivers what they made of the whole thing.

Pedro Clerot, Rodin Motorsport

“It was my first time in Australia, and I came quite early. I arrived on the Thursday before the week of the race, so I had some time to explore and go around, see some cool stuff.

“I had a day with Gabriel Bortoleto as well. We're very good friends. We lived together for a while, one year and a half, while he was doing his final part of the year in F3 and his year in F2.

“So we're very good mates. I got to spend some time with him. We spent a full day together, played some padel as well with Rafa as well.

“We were staying in the same hotel, so we did a lot together, which was quite nice. I got to learn a bit from them and got some information from them that was quite helpful this weekend. But yeah, I just enjoyed it a lot.

“I am looking forward to coming back hopefully next year. I'm just really happy that we could put a good race weekend here. I came quite early and I was quite excited for the weekend. I think it turned out better than expected.”

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Enzo Deligny, Van Amersfoort Racing

“Overall it was a really good weekend. We leave P5 in the Drivers' Championship and P1 in the Teams' Championship. So, very happy about that.

“I feel like me and Bruno really got the most out of it this weekend. Qualifying could have been a bit better, but at least we maximised the Sprint Race. It's a shame for the reduction of points.

“But I feel like we got a bit of everything this weekend, a typical F3 weekend. Red flags in Quali, a lot of Safety Cars. But in general, you have to execute well and this is what we did.

"There were no major mistakes. So, in general, I'm quite satisfied. I've been here since last Saturday. I really enjoyed being here, meeting some nice people.

“Yeah, we did a lot of paddle with some F2 drivers, we hung out. I honestly don't want to go back, but I've got to go back tomorrow.”

Taito Kato, ART Grand Prix

“I love the city, it has really good nature as well. This circuit, obviously, when I was a kid, I was watching it on TV. So to be here is really nice and a bit unbelievable.

“It's kind of dream come true, and also, the Melbourne circuit was amazing. It's really, really, really good. Really hard, it's high-speed corners were really hard, but it was really nice. I love it.

“We did a lot of simulator, as much as possible ahead of the race weekend. It worked quite well to be honest. I had good confidence after Practice going into Qualifying, and we got a good result.”

Mattia Colnaghi, MP Motorsport

“The prep was very important with it being a track where the rookies have not driven before. So it was very important to have sim just to prep for that, improving and learning the layout, kerbs, everything. I spent a few days in the Red Bull sim and the MP sim so that was very good prep.

“I felt super ready when we got there from lap one in Free Practice. Everything felt familiar and it was super cool to experience Melbourne for the first time.

“The track is super nice, and it has a really good flow, definitely one of the nicest tracks I’ve driven, definitely in my top five. Melbourne is a super nice place, and it was a very cool experience.”