What to watch for: The big talking points in Monaco ahead of Round 2

It’s race week and FIA Formula 3 heads back to Monaco for Round 2 of the 2026 season.

The Principality offers one of the toughest challenges on the calendar and there’s sure to be plenty of action from Thursday through to Sunday’s Feature Race.

But, before we get going on track, here’s a few items you’ll want to pay close attention to this weekend.

FAST STARTERS

It’s been a while since we went racing in Melbourne, but the drivers and teams have been in action in the meantime, with in-season testing taking place around the Red Bull Ring last month.

It provided everyone with a chance to shake off the cobwebs and get back up to speed prior to hitting the Monaco streets, something that will be vital this weekend.

In testing, Taito Kato and ART Grand Prix wound up fastest overall across the two-day event, and they will be aiming to carry that momentum into Round 2.

Elsewhere, Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu topped Day 1 in Spielberg, and the Spanish outfit looked just as fast as they did in Melbourne back in March.

Whoever can get into a rhythm the quickest around the Principality will be well-placed on a weekend where mistakes will be punished severely.

Keep an eye on the top 10 in Practice as those at the sharp end will be carrying confidence going into the grid-setting session that takes place on Friday.

Speaking of Qualifying, uniquely for Monaco, the session is split into two groups in order to minimise the risk of traffic impacting drivers’ flying laps.

Two groups of 15, split into odd and even-numbered cars means that the Qualifying result is aggregated together based on the results of the individual sessions.

Groups will be finalised and announced on Wednesday afternoon, so keep an eye on F3 socials and the website for that confirmation.

The driver that achieves the fastest overall time will of course go from pole position, but it’ll be the best-placed driver in the opposite group that lines up alongside them on the grid, rather than P2 in the fastest group.

From there, the grid is set by alternating back and forth between the groups to fill out the remaining places.

Theoretically, the group that goes last has an advantage due to track evolution, however last season it was Nikola Tsolov that claimed pole, setting a 1:24.882 in Group A and then watching from the sidelines as rivals tried but failed to better that effort.

Will we see the same in 2026?

OVERTAKING SPOTS

Overtaking is never easy around Monte Carlo but there are a few spots that have tended to see more action than others.

The first overtaking spot comes at Turn 1 at the end of the sole DRS zone around the lap. Some clever positioning by the defending driver in the middle of the track often closes off an opportunity for a dive to the inside, but it has been done.

Next up would be the run to Turn 10 at the exit of the tunnel. Corner exit at the preceding Portier corner is critical to keep a driver defending their position out of reach from those behind.

Any wheelspin or a snap of oversteer on exit could open the door to an opportunistic lunge into the chicane.

Finally, a relatively burgeoning spot around the Monaco circuit is Turn 18 at La Rascasse. Incorporating the element of surprise, there’s just enough room to sneak a Formula 3 car up the inside of the right-hander at the pre-and-penultimate corners.

Defending drivers can keep this avenue closed by positioning themselves closer to the inside wall, however that can compromise their exit and launch into the final corner.

That in turn may open up the final corner as a spot but Turn 1 then becomes the focus once more.

However, the longer a faster driver is trailing a rival ahead and unable to find a way through, the more likely it is they’ll shape for some kind of move, and that usually leads to some great action.