Formula 3 heads to Barcelona this weekend for the Spanish Grand Prix. The event wraps up the triple header and marks the midway point of the 2025 FIA Formula 3 season. The F3 Spanish GP Practice session will be crucial. Drivers must manage tyre degradation on this notoriously demanding circuit. A front-row start will be vital, as every past F3 Feature Race winner here has started there.
A home hero could take the Feature Race win on Sunday—or will Câmara bounce back and end the stretch with big points?
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya spans 4.657km and includes two DRS detection zones. F3 teams have raced here since 2019. Josep Maria Martí of Campos Racing set the F3 fastest lap at this circuit in 2023 with a time of 1:27.587.
This race will also mark the debut of Jose Garfias, who replaces injured James Hedley, and Jesse Carrasquedo, who steps in for Joshua Dufek.
Will it be a home race victory?
The Spanish GP will be a home race for Campos Racing’s Mari Boya, who secured a successful P3 finish in last weekend’s Feature Race. He also claimed victory in the 2024 Sprint Race. Campos Jr spoke earlier in the week about the impressive results the team secured in Monte Carlo, and hope to add to their tally and narrow down their 38 point gap to Teams’ Championship leaders, TRIDENT.
It’s lights out as the Practice session gets underway
With 45 minutes on the clock, drivers took to the track under virtual safety car conditions for the first 5 minutes of the F3 Practice session. They used the time to get a feel for the circuit and study it firsthand. Most drivers had plenty of experience at the track, so they waited before setting lap times and to preserve tyres.
30 minutes left of the F3 Spanish GP Practice session
The cars only started to peel out of the pit lane and make their way to the circuit once the Practice session had less than 30 minutes to go.
The first lap times started to roll in, with most drivers setting times around the 1 minute 40 seconds mark. The flying laps were yet to take place, but the drivers slowly increased their pace into the laps.
Câmara went fastest, with a time of 1:29.024, with Boya trailing him by 0.4 seconds. Giusti then firmly placed his MP Motorsport in P2 with a time of 1:29.346, 3-tenths behind Câmara.
Louis Sharp went wide out of turn 9, and picked up dust on the outskirts of the track.
Once all the drivers set flying lap times, they returned to the pit lane. They were preparing for a final push near the end of the F3 Practice session. Most were simulating Qualifying conditions. As the track continued to evolve, lap times kept dropping.
Team TRIDENT sent their drivers back onto the track with 18 minutes to go, with all other drivers still sitting in pit lane. Wurz set a flying lap time of 1:29.615, placing him P4 at that time.
Garfias, the only other driver on track, stayed out to continue to understand the AIX Racing car, as it was his first time driving it. His time was a 1:31.608, currently rounding out the F3 Spanish GP Practice timings in P30.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, drivers slowly appeared back on track
The MP Motorsport drivers were the first to hit the track again, as well as Badoer. The rest of the pack slowly peeled out from pit lane to follow.
At this point in the Spanish GP Practice session, with five minutes to go, it seemed we had already seen the best lap times. Tyre degradation, especially on the front left, was taking its toll. Additionally, drivers who ran wide picked up dust, which embedded into their tyres and made them slippery. This added to the challenge. On his final flying lap, Giusti locked up his tyres in Turn 5.
The flying laps that were set earlier in the session ended up being the quicker times, with Câmara in P1, followed by Giusti and Boya.
Full results from F3 Spanish GP Free Practice Round
1. R. Câmara
2. A. Giusti
3. M. Boya
4. C. Wurz
5. M. Stenshorne
6. T. Tramnitz
7. T. Inthraphuvasak
8. C. Voisin
9. S. Ramos
10. N. Tsolov
11. N. Strømsted
12. T. Naël
13. R. Bilinski
14. J. Wharton
15. N. Leon
16. L. Van Hoepen
17. L. Sharp
18. B. Badoer
19. M. Zagazeta
20. C. Ho
21. B. Del Pino
22. T. Taponen
23. I. Domingues
24. N. Larcorte
25. U. Ugochukwu
26. N. Marinangeli
27. B. Benavides
28. G. Xie
29. J. Carrasquedo
30. J. Garfias
