Sri
Lankan racing driver Yevan David has completed his rookie FIA Formula 3 season, ending the year with a strong qualifying performance in Madrid that underlined the significant progress he made during his first campaign in the highly competitive championship.
David recorded his best qualifying result of the season in Madrid, securing ninth on the grid with a lap time of 1:50.023. He finished just 0.273 seconds behind pole position and only 0.051 seconds behind title contender Freddie Slater.
Although the three races in Madrid yielded only one point, with overtaking proving difficult around the new Madring circuit, David said his qualifying performance demonstrated how far he had progressed since the opening round in Melbourne.
“It was really encouraging to be P9 and only around two tenths off pole,” David said. “P9 was our best qualifying performance of the year, so I think that says a lot about the progression we made.”
David entered FIA Formula 3 after finishing second overall and securing Rookie honours in the Euroformula Open. He also competed in New Zealand’s Formula Regional Oceania Trophy as preparation for his F3 campaign.
His opening races in Melbourne highlighted the scale of the transition, with limited track time, tyre preparation and an extremely competitive field making consistency a major challenge. The learning process continued through Monaco, Barcelona and the Red Bull Ring, where David showed flashes of pace but struggled to put together complete weekends.
A major breakthrough came at Silverstone, where David qualified 11th, his best grid position at the time. The reverse-grid format placed him on the front row for the Sprint Race.
David held second place behind Ugo Ugochukwu and successfully defended the position under sustained pressure to become the first Sri Lankan driver to secure an FIA Formula 3 podium.
He followed the podium with seventh place in the Feature Race the following day, securing his first double-points weekend of the season.
David described Silverstone as the point at which his understanding of the Formula 3 car began to come together.
“The biggest difference compared with Melbourne is that I now understand fundamentally how to drive the car fast,” he said, adding that understanding the car eventually allowed him to drive more instinctively.
After challenging rounds at Spa and Budapest, David returned from the summer break with renewed confidence and produced one of his strongest performances of the year at Monza.
Starting 17th in the Sprint Race, the Sri Lankan climbed through the field to finish fourth. He then repeated the fourth-place finish in the Feature Race despite starting 16th, completing two overtakes on the final lap and at the final corner.
Across the two Monza races, David gained a combined 25 positions. “I really did feel a difference in myself. I came back fresher and I was feeling the grip of the car more,” David said of the weekend.
His Madrid qualifying performance subsequently provided another indication of his development, particularly over a single lap. David said that by the final round, he had developed a much clearer understanding of how to drive the car at its limit.
Looking back at the season, David identified three rounds as illustrating different aspects of his progress: Silverstone demonstrated his ability to defend at the front, Monza highlighted his overtaking and race-management skills, while Madrid demonstrated his improvement in qualifying.
The 2026 campaign also saw David balance his international racing commitments with A-Level examinations, sponsor obligations and visits to Sri Lanka, where support for his motorsport career continued to grow.
David said he had focused primarily on improving his performance and understanding of the car rather than concentrating solely on results throughout his rookie campaign.
“Looking back, though, I think we put every piece of the puzzle together,” he said. “We had the racecraft to defend, the racecraft to attack and manage the tyres, and the lap execution to qualify inside the top ten.”
While expressing pride in his progress, David acknowledged that further improvement would be required, particularly in maintaining the right mindset and concentrating on factors within his control.
“This season has taught me just how hard you have to work to succeed in Formula 3,” he said. “It isn’t an easy championship, and I’m willing to do everything possible to keep improving.”
David also thanked those who supported his campaign, particularly his supporters in Sri Lanka, describing 2026 as a year of significant encouragement and backing.
His racing programme is supported by Maliban, DIMO Group, Nations Trust Bank, Fidem Financial and the Ceylon Motor Sports Club (CMSC). (Newswire)