Brando Badoer on karting to stay sharp and why 2026 will show his full potential

Brando Badoer has been getting prepared for the new season and has spared no effort in beginning his preparations for the 2026 campaign.

The Italian joins Rodin Motorsport for his second year in F3, and has high hopes for what the new collaboration will bring.

Ahead of pre-season testing, Badoer explained how he’s been getting ready, with a lot of time spent karting in order to stay as sharp as possible before jumping back into the F3 car.

“I'm really excited to finally be close to Barcelona after a long break. I've trained pretty hard in the winter, all year, as a physical and mental, and also did a lot of sims. Go karting training, had fun, spent time with my family.

“It's definitely very useful to stay in terms of mentality right now to keep the reflexes active, to stay sharp mentally - the simulator is helpful as well. Now I'm really looking forward to drive the car again in Barcelona and make the 2026 season one to remember.”

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The Rodin driver will be heading to the team’s base for final preparations before heading off to Barcelona for three ‘important’ days of testing.

A lot of work is going into being able to maximise track time, with Badoer explaining that with margins so fine in F3, extracting the most from the available days will be critical to gaining performance for Melbourne and the rest of the year.

“Right now, I'm going to the factory to prep procedures with the team. I need to be 100% ready from the first laps in Barcelona.

“We're working well with the team, so I'm looking forward to keeping on working, developing our setup, so it will be a very important three days for everyone - drivers, mechanics, engineers and all the staff that works at the factory to arrive in Melbourne 100% ready to accomplish our goals.”

For Badoer personally, his move to Rodin represents a new start and an opportunity to achieve better results than in his rookie campaign in the Championship.

The Italian driver says that while he was able to take a step forward in the second half of the year, he feels confident that with the learnings of 2025 stored, he can achieve greater things this time around.

“Last year was a tough one. I wasn't able to express my full potential. And so I'm really looking forward to doing it this year. It's definitely an advantage to be a second-year driver. I know the car better, I know the tracks better. So I'm looking forward to fighting at the top.

“That situation was not always in my control. But at the end of the day, I learned a lot last year and it's definitely a valuable experience for the future. Last year, when the car improved, the performances improved as well.

“We started fighting more at the front, scored some decent results for sure, but I think the potential was even better than the results. So that's what I'm mostly looking forward to: expressing the potential fully and translating that into results.”