2026 F3 In-Season Testing | Madrid | Slater tops Day 1 at the Madring

Championship leader Freddie Slater ended the opening day of 2026 F3 in-season testing fastest at the new Madring circuit in Madrid, setting a 1:50.343 during Monday afternoon’s running.

Title rival Ugo Ugochukwu had earlier led the morning session for Campos Racing with a 1:51.901 as all 30 drivers completed their first official running around the new Madrid venue. Slater then moved the benchmark forward during a disrupted afternoon, edging ART Grand Prix’s Taito Kato by just 0.067s.

Morning session: Ugochukwu leads first F3 running at Madring

The opening morning began steadily as drivers used the early laps to familiarise themselves with a completely new circuit. With the track surface still green, outright lap times initially took a back seat to reconnaissance work.

Yevan David emerged at the top for AIX Racing after the first hour with a 1:54.669, ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing pair Bruno Del Pino and Enzo Deligny.

Running was interrupted midway through the session when Christian Ho found the barriers at Turn 18. The Rodin Motorsport driver climbed from the car unharmed, with action resuming just over an hour before the scheduled finish.

Jin Nakamura immediately began lowering the benchmark once the session restarted. The Hitech driver initially recorded a 1:52.605 before improving to 1:52.176, placing him just 0.029s clear of Slater.

Del Pino then moved Van Amersfoort Racing to the front with a 1:51.958, with teammate Deligny following only 0.103s behind. However, Ugochukwu delivered the decisive improvement inside the final half hour, setting a 1:51.901 to beat Del Pino by 0.057s.

Del Pino’s morning ended with another Red Flag when he stopped at Turn 12. With little time remaining, the session did not restart, leaving Ugochukwu fastest ahead of Del Pino and Deligny.

Nakamura finished fourth, while Slater completed the top five ahead of Fionn McLaughlin, Mattia Colnaghi, Théophile Naël, Kato and Hiyu Yamakoshi.

2026 F3 Madrid in-season test Day 1 morning standings

1. Ugo Ugochukwu – Campos Racing – 1:51.901 – 20 laps
2. Bruno Del Pino – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:51.958 – 23 laps
3. Enzo Deligny – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:52.061 – 25 laps
4. Jin Nakamura – Hitech – 1:52.176 – 22 laps
5. Freddie Slater – TRIDENT – 1:52.205 – 18 laps
6. Fionn McLaughlin – Hitech – 1:52.333 – 22 laps
7. Mattia Colnaghi – MP Motorsport – 1:52.479 – 23 laps
8. Théophile Naël – Campos Racing – 1:52.550 – 20 laps
9. Taito Kato – ART Grand Prix – 1:52.637 – 21 laps
10. Hiyu Yamakoshi – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:52.674 – 20 laps
11. Yevan David – AIX Racing – 1:52.771 – 19 laps
12. Noah Strømsted – TRIDENT – 1:52.886 – 17 laps
13. Maciej Gładysz – ART Grand Prix – 1:53.035 – 21 laps
14. Ernesto Rivera – Campos Racing – 1:53.044 – 19 laps
15. Tuukka Taponen – MP Motorsport – 1:53.200 – 21 laps
16. Alex Powell – PREMA Racing – 1:53.398 – 16 laps
17. Alessandro Giusti – MP Motorsport – 1:53.496 – 20 laps
18. Brando Badoer – Rodin Motorsport – 1:53.716 – 20 laps
19. Matteo De Palo – Rodin Motorsport – 1:53.758 – 15 laps
20. Fernando Barrichello – AIX Racing – 1:53.903 – 17 laps
21. Ricardo Escotto – AIX Racing – 1:53.949 – 19 laps
22. Woohyun Shin – Hitech – 1:53.965 – 16 laps
23. Pedro Clerot – Rodin Motorsport – 1:54.229 – 19 laps
24. James Wharton – PREMA Racing – 1:54.738 – 17 laps
25. Christian Ho – Rodin Motorsport – 1:55.197 – 5 laps
26. Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi – DAMS Lucas Oil – 1:57.477 – 25 laps
27. Kanato Le – ART Grand Prix – 1:58.118 – 7 laps
28. Nicola Lacorte – DAMS Lucas Oil – 2:04.523 – 23 laps
29. Gerrard Xie – DAMS Lucas Oil – 2:05.116 – 27 laps
30. José Garfias – PREMA Racing – 2:06.411 – 5 laps

Afternoon session: Slater hits the front

Conditions remained cooler than initially expected when the afternoon session began, encouraging teams to quickly return to meaningful running.

Ugochukwu initially continued where he had left off, but the session was interrupted after only 12 minutes when Fernando Barrichello hit the barriers at Turn 17. The AIX Racing driver was unharmed, and running resumed after his car was recovered.

Slater then started to show his pace. The TRIDENT driver lowered the benchmark to a 1:51.638, but another Turn 17 incident soon caused the next stoppage when Nakamura found the barriers.

ART Grand Prix moved to the fore following the restart. Gładysz briefly led teammate Kato in a 1-2 before Slater responded with a 1:51.000, but the Pole’s session ended shortly afterwards when he hit the barriers at the Turns 5-6 chicane.

Another short Red Flag followed after a driver spun but managed to recover to the pit lane.

Kato became the driver to beat when action resumed, progressively lowering the fastest time and eventually recording a 1:50.582. Naël then moved Campos Racing to the top before Slater delivered the fastest lap of Day 1.

The championship leader produced a 1:50.343, with Kato improving again to move back into second, only 0.067s behind. Naël ended the session third, another 0.013s back, leaving the top three covered by just 0.080s.

Slater’s own day ended prematurely when he clipped the wall at Turn 10 with just under 20 minutes remaining. His damaged TRIDENT stopped on track and triggered the final significant Red Flag of the session.

Drivers received another seven minutes of running once the circuit reopened, but nobody could displace Slater from the top.

Ernesto Rivera ended the afternoon fourth for Campos Racing, ahead of Alessandro Giusti, Woohyun Shin and Tuukka Taponen. Nakamura finished eighth despite his earlier incident, with Ugochukwu ninth and Yamakoshi completing the top 10.

2026 F3 Madrid in-season test Day 1 afternoon standings

1. Freddie Slater – TRIDENT – 1:50.343 – 19 laps
2. Taito Kato – ART Grand Prix – 1:50.410 – 31 laps
3. Théophile Naël – Campos Racing – 1:50.423 – 32 laps
4. Ernesto Rivera – Campos Racing – 1:50.744 – 33 laps
5. Alessandro Giusti – MP Motorsport – 1:50.784 – 24 laps
6. Woohyun Shin – Hitech – 1:50.792 – 28 laps
7. Tuukka Taponen – MP Motorsport – 1:50.818 – 23 laps
8. Jin Nakamura – Hitech – 1:50.960 – 18 laps
9. Ugo Ugochukwu – Campos Racing – 1:51.010 – 27 laps
10. Hiyu Yamakoshi – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:51.197 – 28 laps
11. Enzo Deligny – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:51.200 – 31 laps
12. Maciej Gładysz – ART Grand Prix – 1:51.210 – 14 laps
13. Kanato Le – ART Grand Prix – 1:51.259 – 29 laps
14. Fionn McLaughlin – Hitech – 1:51.266 – 29 laps
15. Mattia Colnaghi – MP Motorsport – 1:51.271 – 23 laps
16. Gerrard Xie – DAMS Lucas Oil – 1:51.314 – 30 laps
17. Pedro Clerot – Rodin Motorsport – 1:51.365 – 27 laps
18. Alex Powell – PREMA Racing – 1:51.500 – 31 laps
19. Yevan David – AIX Racing – 1:51.530 – 29 laps
20. Brando Badoer – Rodin Motorsport – 1:51.560 – 26 laps
21. Bruno Del Pino – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:51.763 – 25 laps
22. Noah Strømsted – TRIDENT – 1:51.800 – 26 laps
23. James Wharton – PREMA Racing – 1:51.927 – 30 laps
24. Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi – DAMS Lucas Oil – 1:51.956 – 28 laps
25. Nicola Lacorte – DAMS Lucas Oil – 1:51.922 – 24 laps
26. Matteo De Palo – Rodin Motorsport – 1:52.030 – 24 laps
27. Ricardo Escotto – AIX Racing – 1:52.226 – 28 laps
28. José Garfias – PREMA Racing – 1:53.225 – 30 laps
29. Fernando Barrichello – AIX Racing – 1:54.225 – 8 laps
30. Christian Ho – Rodin Motorsport – No Time – 0 laps

The official F3 classification lists Bhirombhakdi 24th on a 1:51.956 and Lacorte 25th on a 1:51.922, despite the latter time being quicker. The order above follows the published official classification.

The second and final day of F3 in-season testing at the Madring begins at 09:00 local time on Tuesday, with the morning session running until 11:50 before afternoon action resumes at 13:00.