LIVE COVERAGE: Follow the action from Day 1 of pre-season testing in Barcelona

OVERVIEW

• Day 1 of pre-season testing in Barcelona as the 2026 campaign gets underway
• There are 14 returning drivers taking part in another season of F3, with the rest made up of rookies.
• Follow the live timing here.

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.