OVERVIEWDay 3 of pre-season testing in Barcelona as the 2026 campaign gets underwayFreddie Slater finishes with the fastest time on each of the opening two daysThéophile Nael fastest on Day 3 morning ahead of Noah Stromsted and Ugo UgochukwuFollow the live timing here.SEE YOU IN MELBOURNE
That is it from Barcelona. Next up: Round 1 in Melbourne from March 6-8. We will see you all then!
AFTERNOON TOP-10
Lacorte ends up on top, with Xie in second, De Palo third, with Tramnitz and Badoer in fourth and fifht. Benavides and Barrichello follow, Stromsted in eighth, Ugochukwu in ninth and Christian Ho in 10th.
CHEQUERED FLAG
That, everybody, is the end of three fascinating days of pre-season testing.
DAMS ON TOP
Nicola Lacorte has just gone fastest with a 1:29.676. His teammate Gerrard Xie is second, over half a second behind.
THE FINAL HOUR
We are heading into the final hour of the day, long runs are still the main focus of the afternoon, even though the Red Flags have slightly affected some of the teams’ plans.
Many of the drivers are back in the pitlane, having a debrief with their engineers, also taking onboard some fluids, with the mechanics working on their cars ahead of their next runs.
GREEN LIGHT
We are back underway once again!
RED FLAG
Fionn McLaughlin is in the gravel at the final corner.
GREEN LIGHT
The track is clear and we are back underway.
RED FLAG
Freddie Slater has stopped on track at Turn 12.
NAEL ON THE MORNING SESSION
Théophile Nael had a strong run to P1 in the morning session. He is back out on track for what is set to be a busy afternoon of long runs for him. During the lunch break though, we caught up with the Campos Racing driver.
“It was a good morning here in Barcelona. Strong result, strong pace. We are testing plenty of things with the car, and with the team, and I’m looking forward to the season.
“Obviously, there are many things that are working well, some of them not. We are analysing everything. Obviously, that was a really good morning for us.
“At the moment, it has been a really good three days.”
GREEN LIGHT
Both car and driver are back safely in the pitlane, and the action has resumed.
RED FLAG
José Garfias has stopped at Turn 6.
LONG RUNS GALORE
This afternoon is mainly about race pace. The teams will be doing one, maybe two, and if they can, they will do as many as three long run simulations, were they will test different things across all of their cars to be ready for Melbourne.
GREEN LIGHT
Another three hours of testing is underway!
CHEQUERED FLAG
That is it for the morning. All the cars are back in the pitlane. It is a one hour lunch break today, so we will be back at 12:00 local time for the afternoon session.
LONG RUN TIMES
Campos and TRIDENT have been the main ones on long runs in recent minutes with Ugochukwu, Stromsted and Slater all in the 1:33s. De Palo and Nael are in the early 1:34s, but it is always important caveat this with the unknown regarding test items, setups and tyre age.
A WORD FROM GIUSTI
It has not been the easiest of weeks for Alessandro Giusti, who when we caught up with him yesterday revealed that he had been battling illness all week.
“It’s been pretty tough because I’ve been sick for the last two days, as you can see with my voice. Yeah, I got a gastro issue, I vomited like three times on Monday. Then yesterday I was not feeling so great in the car, not so much energy.
“Today was a bit better, but I am recovering quite slowly and I hope tomorrow I will be nearly at 100% to have a great day driving.”
We can confirm that he has lost his voice.
FINAL HOUR UPDATE
Qualifying runs are over, but that does not mean that the work is done. Teams have turned their attentions to race simulations, with several drivers also practising their starts at the end of the pitlane. Look at our Instagram stories to see Jin Nakamura’s attempt.
In addition to that, Van Amersfoort Racing are preparing for all eventualities, and have been doing some pitstop practices with their drivers. You can again see some footage of that on our Instagram stories.
NAEL TAKEOVER
Nael has just come back out for another shot at a Qualifying lap and has gone to the top of the timesheets with a 1:27.525.
This is a track that everybody knows well so the times are tight. The top 24 cars are covered by one second and it could be closer on the race weekend at Round 4.
CAMPOS IMPROVE
Stromsted’s time is holding on here, as Ugochukwu sets a couple of personal best sectors, but remains second and closes the gap to just 0.020s. Nael is up to third, 0.085s away.
Taponen, Giusti and Colnaghi, who have been in the pitlane for a while are now back on track.
CAMPOS VERSUS TRIDENT
Looking at the top five on the timesheets, the two teams that fought closely for the title last year are going toe-to-toe once again.
Ugochukwu could not improve on his latest lap and stays in second, but his teammates Théophile Nael has moved up to fourth ahead of Heuzenroeder in fifth.
Stromsted has just come back out of the pitlane for his next lap.
RADIO SILENCE
All 30 cars are back in the pitlane, it has all gone quiet before the next set of laps.
SLATER IS ON THE BOARD
It is tight at the top, as Freddie Slater makes his first move of the day. A 1:27.724 puts him in third, just over a tenth away from his teammate and currently leader Stromsted.
NEW TYRES ON
Stromsted has put his new rubber to good use, going fastest on a 1:27.620, just 0.034s quicker than Ugochukwu in P2.
TAPONEN TO P1
Taponen has just put in a 1:28.171 to go to the top of the leaderboard. His MP Motorsport teammate Mattia Colnaghi is second, just over a second behind.
PREMA CLIMB UP THE ORDER
Wharton is making up for lost time well, as he has just gone up third for PREMA Racing, just ahead of his teammate Louis Sharp.
FAST LAPS
So the drivers are working on their one lap pace but they are doing so on older tyres, looking to clean up the track before switching to the newer rubber.
After those laps it is Patrick Heuzenroeder that leads the way with a 1:29.354.
GREEN LIGHT
Wharton is back in the pitlane and the action is back underway.
RED FLAG
James Wharton is in the gravel between Turns 7 and 8.
GREEN LIGHT
Another day in Barcelona begins!
WHAT SHOULD WE EXPECT TODAY
Ugochukwu mentioned yesterday that we should not expect today to be much different to Day 2 in terms of run plans. So that means Qualifying simulations early in the morning before they turn their attentions to long runs in the afternoon
Some teams have saved more sets of new tyres than others, so expect some very fast times this morning.
RECAP OF THE OPENING TWO DAYS
What a first two days it has been for Freddie Slater and TRIDENT, as they have set the fastest time by quite a big margin on Day 1 and Day 2. Click here to read what the British driver said after ending up P1 on the opening day.
Ugo Ugochukwu is another that has caught the eye, as he ended up with the fastest time in the afternoon on Day 2, giving him and Campos a positive feeling heading into the final day.
WELCOME TO DAY 3
Good day all and welcome back to Barcelona for the final day of pre-season testing.