Following the cancellation of the Bahrain round scheduled for April, the 2026 FIA F3 season resumed with Round 2 after a long interval of around three months from the opening round. Taito Kato, an 18-year-old Honda Formula Dream Project (HFDP) driver, contested the support race held as part of the historic Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix weekend.

For young drivers, gaining experience on the same stage as the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix carries major significance. Unlike a permanent circuit, the course cannot be driven regularly, and the Circuit de Monaco is known for being particularly demanding. Laid out on two-lane public roads, the track is narrow, with most corners blind, and drivers have to attack close to the walls to find lap time. With only limited run-off areas, there is also a high likelihood of Safety Car (SC) periods or red-flag interruptions, making changing race situations another characteristic of Monaco.

Qualifying

Qualifying began at 11:05 am on Friday 5 June in dry conditions, with an air temperature of 23°C and a track temperature of 29°C. The field was split into two groups of 15 cars, with each session running for 15 minutes. Kato ran in Group A and began towards the rear of the pack, continuing to attack while managing the gaps around him and steadily improving his lap times.

On his sixth flying lap, he recorded a time in the 1m25s for the first time in the session and briefly moved to the top of the order. In the closing stages, the fight for the leading grid positions centred around the 1m25s mark. Kato set his best time of 1m25.477s on his ninth flying lap. He was unable to improve on his final attack on lap 10 and ended qualifying P7 in Group A.

As Theophile Nael topped Group B and secured pole position, Group B took the odd-numbered grid positions, while Group A took the even-numbered slots. As a result, Kato will start both the Sprint Race (Race 1) and the Feature Race (Race 2) from P14.

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