OVERVIEWDay 1 of pre-season testing in Barcelona as the 2026 campaign gets underwayThere are 14 returning drivers taking part in another season of F3, with the rest made up of rookies.Afternoon session is underway after Jin Nakamura topped the timesheets in the morning for Hitech.Follow the live timing here. SEE YOU FOR DAY 2
That brings an end to Day 1 but the drivers will be back on track for Day 2 at 09:00 local time tomorrow morning. Be sure to join us then!
SLATER ENDS UP ON TOP
Slater finishes Day 1 of 2026 on top, ahead of Le, Ugochukwu, Sharp, Taponen, Wharton, Stromsted, Kato, and Lacorte with Gladysz rounding out the top 10.
DAY 1 WRAP UP
Just because the chequered flag is waved, does not quite mean the day is over. The drivers were able to go back on track to do some practice starts before returning to the pitlane.
CHEQUERED FLAG
That wraps up the days action with Freddie Slater ending up on top in the afternoon, ahead of Kanato Le and Ugo Ugochukwu
SLATER ON TOP
Another driver that has been fairly quiet today leaves it late to make his move, and what a move it is. Freddie Slater goes quickest with a 1:28.411, eclipsing Le’s time by 0.331s.
UGOCHUKWU TO P2
He has been somewhat quite today, considering his form at post-season testing – where he led two of the six days of running. The Campos driver has just gone up to P2 on his new tyres, 0.116s of Le’s leading time.
15 MINUTES TO GO
We are heading into the final 15 minutes of the day but the action is actually heating up. Several teams such as DAMS, Campos and TRIDENT have fitted on new tyres. Whether it is for fast laps reamins to be seen.
GREEN FLAG
The action is back underway!
RED FLAG
Kato has now stopped on track at Turn 10.
COLNAGHI UPDATE
Colnaghi and his car are back in the garage after his earlier stoppage, but during the lunch break, he also gave us his views on events so far on Day 1.
“A very uneventful morning. Just a few laps, obviously to check the car is ok. It’s a new season, new everything, you rebuild the car.
“So, just checking everything is ok, then the track was not in the best condition. So not much running. Fixing a few things and then this afternoon, hopefully the track dries up fully.
“Some new sets, some long runs. Practise starts as usual. Just getting some good mileage in.”
HEAR FROM PEDRO CLEROT
Rodin have just bolted on a set of new Hard tyres on to all three of their cars. Before jumping back in Pedro Clerot talked us through his day:
“Yeah, the tests going quite well. In the morning we didn’t get so much running, but now we are getting much more running, and it was quite a decent first few runs for us in the afternoon. Just one new set for us at the moment.
“But just focused on doing some aero stuff and just analysing some data, but looking forward and feeling good.”
GREEN LIGHT
We are back underway once again in Barcelona. There are less than 60 minutes left in the session.
RED FLAG
Colnaghi is now stuck in the gravel at the final corner. This came just as his teammate Taponen had gone purple through the first two sectors.
WORD FROM THE PITLANE
The mechanics are working hard making setup changes to their cars, but a few drivers are out on track. MP Motorsport had fitted new Hard tyres to their cars before the stoppage, and now Taponen, Giusti and Colnaghi are out on track.
Elsewhere, Nicola Lacorte has gone up to fourth for DAMS Lucas Oil.
GREEN LIGHT
We are back underway!
RED FLAG
Enzo Deligny has stopped on track at Turn 4.
He has been able to get the car going once again and he has brought it back into the pitlane.
TAPONEN UP TO P2
MP Motorsport have also just put in some final laps, with Taponen now in P2. Colnaghi is sixth, just ahead of Giusti in seventh.
HITECH MAKE A MOVE
Tramnitz has just moved up to fifth for Hitech, ahead of Nakamura in P8. Fionn McLaughlin has gone from last to P12.
ART’s FLYING START
Things are looking good for the French outfit so far, with Le now quickest on a 1:28.742, and he is currently purple through the first sector.
Kato is second, while Maciej Gladysz rounds out the top three for ART. A nice start to the test for them.
TYRE UPDATE
The teams have been given eight sets of the Pirelli Hard tyre to use this week for each car, but so far, they have only used one, with the Wet tyre primarily used this morning.
They would have had a plan of how they were going to use them, with long runs and Qualifying simulations on the agenda.
AIX STILL WITHOUT A LAP
AIX Racing were the only team not to come out on to the track at the green light, so their three drivers are the only ones yet to set a flying lap.
TRIDENT and Hitech left the pitlane later than the others and are currently still rounding the track, with all six drivers setting off on their second push attempts.
BACK INTO THE PITS
It seems like the teams have taken the view of doing a couple of push laps before bringing their cars into the pitlane. After the first set of laps, Kato leads Taponen and his ART Grand Prix teammate Kanato Le. Ugochukwu and Nael are P4 and P5 for Campos Racing.
KATO ON A FLYER
Taito Kato is flying once again and completes a 1:29.118 to go fastest, just 0.016s clear of Tuukka Taponen, who is improving.
GREEN LIGHT
We are back underway in Barcelona and for some more good news, all drivers are on the Hard tyre.
SOME OF OUR FAVOURITE IMAGES FROM THE MORNING SESSIONTOP 10
Nakamura is ahead of Tramnitz, with Badoer third, Kato fourth, Enzo Deligny fifth, Kanato Le sixth, Christian Ho seventh, Yamakoshi eighth, Del Pino ninth, with Pedro Clerot rounding out the top-10.
CHEQUERED FLAG
Well that wraps up the first three hours of the 2026 season. Jin Nakamura leads a Hitech 1-2 ahead of Tramnitz in a session where the majority of running was done on Wet tyres. Let’s see if the afternoon session brings out some slick tyre running.
FALSE ALARM
With just a couple of minutes remaining in the session, it appears the teams have aborted their idea to go out on the slicks, and to instead save a set, with areas of the track maybe not quite ready yet for the Hard tyre.
COULD WE SEE SLICKS?
If you joined for fast times, we might have some good news. Most of the teams have fitted on a set of new Hard tyres, with their drivers already jumping into the car. Heading into the final 15 minutes, we might get the full Formula 3 Qualifying experience.
MORE CHANGES AT THE TOP
Brando Badoer briefly went quickest for Rodin Motorsport on a 1:38.024. However, that has just been beaten by Tim Tramnitz, who is deputising at Hitech for Michael Shin. He completes a 1:37.188.
Jin Nakamura is the latest driver to take over P1, his 1:36.795 is now the time to beat.
FIRST SIGN OF SLICKS
A couple of teams had just started bringing out the Hard tyres, with MP Motorsport even putting them on to their cars, with their drivers waiting for the track conditions to improve.
However, DAMS Lucas Oil have the honour of being the first team to come out on track on slicks. It was only for an exploratory lap, as all three of their drivers went out and came back in immediately.
ART ON TOP
Kato has improved to a 1:39.058, and has just returned to the pitlane. Le is now second on a 1:39.889 and has just set off on another lap.
VAR TAKEOVER
Hiyu Yamakoshi has now gone fastest with a 1:41.900, and he leads his teammate Bruno del Pino by 0.097s.
That did not last long. Taito Kato is now on top with a 1:40.949. His teammate Le should be impressed by that effort watching on from the pitlane.
BACK UNDERWAY
Barrichello’s car is back in the pitlane and we are back under green conditions.
Prior to the stoppage though, Kanato Le went up to P2. His ART Grand Prix teammate Taito Kato looked very impressed with him when he came back into the pitlane. You can see Kato’s reaction on our Instagram stories.
RED FLAG
Fernando Barrichello has stopped at Turn 10.
TIMES POURING IN
Théophile Nael has now taken over at the top with a 1:43.738. His Campos Racing teammate Ugo Ugochukwu has gone to P4.
The Frenchman has gone even quicker with a 1:43.188, while Ugochukwu has jumped up to second, over seven-tenths behind.
A WET TRACK
With temperatures still quite cool, and with a lack of running, the track is still slightly wet. So the teams have stuck on the Wet tyres, and Louis Sharp has gone fastest on a 1:43.903.
His PREMA Racing teammate James Wharton is 0.260s behind in P2.
WHAT TO EXPECT
Eventually the teams will stick on their Hard tyres and start putting in the laps, but for now it is installation laps on the travel tyres. These are done to make sure that the drivers are comfortable, and all the systems are working well.
A FEW NOTES ON THE GRID
Unfortunately, there are a couple of drivers not taking part in this test due to injury. Ernesto Rivera is currently suffering from back pain after an on-track incident over the winter, so has been replaced by Patrick Heuzenroeder at Campos Racing.
In addition to that, Tim Tramnitz will be deputising for Michael Shin at Hitech, with the South Korean driver having sustained a shoulder injury over the winter.
GREEN LIGHT
All the drivers have hit the track, all on their travel tyres as the season gets underway.
ENGINES ON WAITING
All the cars and teams are ready and waiting, the drivers are putting on their helmets and we are just under five minutes away from the season’s start!
WELCOME TO 2026
Good morning everyone from a very cool Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where we all set for the first of three days of pre-season testing, kicking of what is set to be another incredible year of Formula 3 racing.