F3 Sprint Race 2026 Italian GP: Kato Storms Through, Slater Extends Lead

Nobody starting ninth is supposed to win a Formula 3 Sprint Race at Monza, a track where overtaking is theoretically possible but practically a lottery. Taito Kato didn’t get that memo. The ART Grand Prix driver sliced through the field with a drive that made a mockery of his grid slot, claimed a maiden victory, and somehow still wasn’t the most significant story of the afternoon.

Kato’s Charge Through the Field

Kato picked off rivals one by one on his way to the front, then had to do the hard part all over again: hold the position. TRIDENT’s Freddie Slater, who himself had carved his way up from 12th, spent the final two laps hunting him down. Kato didn’t blink. That is the difference between a driver who gets lucky in the chaos of a Sprint Race and one who actually deserves the trophy.

The full result, as per FIA Formula 3, tells its own story about how little the grid order mattered once the lights went out. Kato and Slater both made significant gains from their starting positions, which illustrates how Monza’s Sprint Races can scramble the pack rather than confirm it.

Slater’s Damage Limitation Is the Real Headline

Here is the thing nobody at TRIDENT will be shouting about, but should be: Slater didn’t win, and it barely matters. Going from 12th to second in a championship battle is arguably a better result than winning from further up the grid, because it’s the drive that keeps a points lead alive when everything could have gone wrong. Slater now takes a 17-point lead into Sunday’s Feature Race, and he did it by refusing to let a poor grid slot turn into a disaster.

Compare that to the driver who actually led for most of the race. Alessandro Giusti held the top spot for long spells before being picked off on the final lap by AIX Racing’s Yevan David, and had to settle for fifth. That is the brutal maths of Sprint Racing at Monza: leading doesn’t count for anything until the chequered flag, and Giusti found that out in the cruellest possible way, on the very last lap, in front of his own team mate Mattia Colnaghi who finished sixth.

Podium Fillers and Points Scrappers

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi rounded out the podium in third, a solid recovery drive rather than a headline in itself. Further down, Campos Racing’s Ernesto Rivera took seventh, with Van Amersfoort’s second car of Enzo Deligny in eighth. DAMS Lucas Oil enjoyed a double points finish courtesy of Nicola Lacorte in ninth and Bruno del Pino completing the top ten.

None of those names will trouble the highlight reels, but in a championship fight this tight, ninth and tenth are exactly the sort of positions that decide things later in the year. Ask Slater: 17 points is not a cushion, it’s a lead that can vanish in a single bad Sunday.

Front Row Locked In for the Feature Race

Slater’s second place in the Sprint means he starts Sunday’s Feature Race from pole position, with ART’s Kanato Le alongside him on the front row. Given how thoroughly the grid order got shuffled in the Sprint, nobody should assume that front row lasts more than a corner or two. If Monza has taught this field anything today, it’s that starting position and finishing position have only a passing acquaintance with each other.

Kato’s win won’t change the championship equation much on its own, but it does confirm ART Grand Prix has genuine race-winning pace when circumstances allow it, something worth watching given the season qualifying result at Monza already flagged Slater’s rivals are closing the gap. The bigger picture, though, belongs to Slater. A driver who turns a shocking grid slot into a title-boosting result is doing something considerably harder than winning from the front, and Sunday’s Feature Race will show whether TRIDENT can make that lead stick.

Full Sprint Race Result