Formula 3 returns to action with in-season testing in Barcelona

Off the back of a dramatic debut at Melbourne’s Albert Park Circuit, the FIA Formula 3 Championship returns to action for in-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Starting on Thursday, the two days of running in Spain will provide the drivers and teams a chance to put their learnings from the opening rounds into practice before they head to Imola for a further 12 hours of track time next week.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Running from 13-14 April, the field will have a total of 12 hours of track time at their disposal across the two days, split into a morning and an afternoon session. Both days of morning running will begin at 09:00 and end at noon. On Thursday, the afternoon session will commence at 14:00 and end at 17:00, whilst on Friday, it will run from 13:00 to 16:00 (GMT +2).

Teams will be testing on Pirelli’s Hard tyres, the same compound that was featured during the first two rounds of the season and which will return for Round 5’s visit to the Spanish venue on June 02-04. Each car will be allocated six sets of tyres for the duration of the test, plus three sets of wet tyres.

THE CHALLENGERS

• After achieving back-to-back Feature Race victories, Trident’s Gabriel Bortoleto leads the Drivers’ Championship on 58 points.
• Grégoire Saucy is the only driver to have scored points in each of the first four races, with the ART Grand Prix driver sitting second in the Standings on 38 points.
• PREMA Racing’s Dino Beganovic is third on 28, tied on points with Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Gabriele Minì. Josep María Martí rounds out the top five for Campos Racing with 25 points.
• Trident continue to head the Teams’ Championship, breaking into triple digits on 100 points. PREMA Racing are second on 70, with Hitech Pulse-Eight third on 54. ART Grand Prix is fourth with 45, 16 points ahead of Campos Racing.
• 17 drivers have scored points so far, with 11 different drivers achieving a podium finish. Only Bortoleto has stood on the rostrum twice, in both the Sakhir and Melbourne Feature Races.

WHERE TO FOLLOW

You can follow along with testing on the official FIA F3 website via live timing. End-of-day reports will follow the chequered flag on both days, as well as driver reactions.

FIA FORMULA 3 BARCELONA IN-SEASON TESTING ENTRY LIST