Freddie Slater ends Day 1 of Barcelona pre-season testing on top

Freddie Slater got his 2026 campaign of to a strong start, finishing at the top of the timesheets on Day 1 of the Barcelona pre-season test.

The TRIDENT driver’s 1:28.411 in the afternoon was the fastest of the day, with Hitech’s Jin Nakamura quickest in the damp morning session with a 1:36.795.

MORNING

Installation laps kicked off the 2026 campaign, before the teams switched to running on the Wet tyres, with the track still slightly damp.

Louis Sharp set the early pace with a 1:43.993 to lead his PREMA Racing teammate James Wharton by over two-tenths.

Campos Racing pairing Théophile Nael and Ugo Ugochukwu then went ahead of them, with the Frenchman fastest on a 1:43.188, while the latter wound up 0.799s behind.

Entering the final 90 minutes of the morning, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi went to P1 on a 1:41.936. His teammate Bruno del Pino followed him across the line to go second, 0.061s behind.

ART Grand Prix were the next team to put two cars at the front, with Taito Kato at first going quickest on a 1:40.949, before lowering the time to beat to a 1:39.058.

His teammate Kanato Le then moved up second later on, albeit just over eight-tenths down. Rodin Motorsport’s Brando Badoer then took over at the top top with a 1:38.824, only for Tim Tramnitz – who is deputising for the injured Michael Shin for the test – to go quickest on a 1:37.188 for Hitech.

Several teams looked set to do some Hard tyre running at the end of the session, but opted not to with the track not quite ready for slicks.

This left Nakamura on top ahead of Tramnitz, with Badoer third, Kato fourth, with Enzo Deligny rounding out the top five.

AFTERNOON

The Hard tyres made an appearance at the start of the afternoon session, with Kato continuing his good form to go fastest on a 1:29.118s.

It was tight at the top with Tuukka Taponen just 0.016s off the Japanese driver’s pace in P2. Le also put in a competitive time, however, he ended up just under a tenth away from his teammate in third.

As the second hour got underway, Le took over at the top thanks to a 1:28.742, with Kato over two-tenths behind in second. It was a strong run for ART with Maciej Gladysz completing the top three.

Taponen then went back up to second for MP Motorsport, cutting Le’s lead down to 0.129s. That happened just before Enzo Deligny stopped on track at Turn 4.

This brought out the Red Flags, but the Van Amersfoort Racing driver was able to restart his car before bringing it back to the pitlane.

The action resumed with Taponen and his MP Motorsport teammates Mattia Colnaghi and Alessandro Giusti putting on a new set of Hard tyres.

However, Colnaghi wound up in the gravel at the final corner, bringing out another Red Flag, and just as the action resumed, Kato also stopped on track, causing another stoppage.

Once running resumed, several teams, including Campos, chose to put on a new set of slicks. Ugochukwu used those to go to P2 with a 1:28.858, putting him up to second.

There was also late movement for PREMA, with Sharp going to P3, ahead of Wharton in fifth. As the day entered into its final few minutes, TRIDENT’s Freddie Slater made his move, completing a 1:28.411 to go to P1 by 0.331s.

That wrapped up the day’s action with Slater ending up with the fastest time ahead of Le, Ugochukwu, Sharp, and Taponen.

The drivers are set to be back out on track for Day 2 at 09:00 local time tomorrow morning.

2025 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - BARCELONA PRE-SEASON TEST, DAY 1, MORNING SESSION

2025 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - BARCELONA PRE-SEASON TEST, DAY 1, AFTERNOON SESSION*

Car 8 all times deleted. Car found underweight Car 22 all times deleted. Car non-compliant with the bodywork measurements