2026 F3 Pre-Season Testing | Barcelona | Nakamura and Slater lead Day 1 sessions - Motorsport

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Day 1 of the 2026 F3 pre-season test kicked off at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with Jin Nakamura leading the morning session and Freddie Slater taking P1 in the afternoon.

All 10 F3 teams were ready to hit the track with minor driver changes, as some drivers were not taking part in the test due to winter break injuries. At Campos Racing, Patrick Heuzenroeder has replaced Ernesto Rivers, who is currently suffering from back pain from an on-track winter break incident. While Tim Tramnitz takes over Michael Shin’s seat at Hitech, who has sustained a shoulder injury.

A wet morning session

The first session of the 2026 F3 three-day pre-season testing was set to begin in cool temperatures on a wet track, with wet tyres dominating. PREMA Racing were first to set times as Louis Sharp claimed a 1:43.903, with teammate James Wharton behind in P2. However, soon after, Campos Racing’s Théophile Nael and Ugo Ugochukwu took over the 1-2, with Nael going 1.715 seconds quicker than Sharp.

A red flag appeared as Fernando Barrichello stopped at Turn 10, with conditions remaining red until his AIX Racing car was brought back into the pits. Prior to the interruption, ART Grand Prix’s Kanato Le moved up to P2.

Hitech takes morning 1-2

As the session progressed, times continued to improve with Taito Kato setting a 1:39.058. Additionally, a few teams had brought out the hard tyres, with MP Motorsport even putting them on their cars, as their drivers waited for better track conditions. DAMS Lucas Oil were the first and only team to run on track with slicks, though it was only for an exploratory lap, as all three drivers returned to the pits.

Meanwhile, Brando Badoer briefly set the fastest time until Tim Tramnitz went even faster with a time of 1:27.188. Notably, Jin Nakamura was next to take P1, with his 1:36.795 remaining the time to beat for the remaining part of the session.

With 15 minutes left to go, most F3 teams prepared to switch to hard tyres once again, though track conditions did not fully allow for it.

As the morning session finished, Nakamura remained in P1 ahead of Tramnitz, as Badoer, Kato, Deligny, Le, Ho, Yamakoshi, Del Pino, and Clerot rounded out the top ten.

Morning session standings

Jin Nakamura – Hitech – 1:36.795
Tim Tramnitz – Hitech – 1:37.188
Brando Badoer – Rodin Motorsport – 1:38.824
Taito Kato – ART Grand Prix – 1:39.058
Enzo Deligny – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:39.273
Kanato Le – ART Grand Prix – 1:39.889
Christian Ho – Rodin Motorsport – 1:41.711
Hiyu Yamakoshi – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:41.900
Bruno Del Pino – Van Amersfoort Racing – 1:41.997
Pedro Clerot – Rodin Motorsport – 1:41.998
Théophile Nael – Campos Racing – 1:43.188
Ugo Ugochukwu – Campos Racing – 1:43.987
Louis Sharp – PREMA Racing – 1:43.993
James Wharton – PREMA Racing – 1:44.253
Brad Benavides – AIX Racing – 1:44.506
Jose Garfias – PREMA Racing – 1:45.187
Patrick Heuzenroeder – Campos Racing – 1:45.241
Yevan David – AIX Racing – 1:46.050
Maciej Gladysz – ART Grand Prix – 1:47.315
Noah Strømsted – TRIDENT
Freddie Slater – TRIDENT
Matteo De Palo – TRIDENT
Mattia Colnaghi – MP Motorsport
Tuukka Taponen – MP Motorsport
Alessandro Giusti – MP Motorsport
Fionn McLaughlin – Hitech
Fernando Barrichello – AIX Racing
Nicola Lacorte – DAMS Lucas Oil
Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi – DAMS Lucas Oil
Gerrard Xie – DAMS Lucas Oil

Afternoon session

After starting Day 1 with a wet morning session, the afternoon session was in better conditions, as teams opted for hard tyres.

With the green light, drivers headed out on track, quickly setting their first flying laps with Taito Kato going fastest with a 1:29.118. After a few push laps, teams brought their cars back into the pits with Kato leading Taponen and Le, while Ugochukwu and Nael completed the top five.

AIX Racing was the only team not to come out at the session’s green light; their three drivers had yet to set a flying lap. Whereas TRIDENT and Hitech left the pits later than the others, all six drivers were preparing for their second push attempts.

As teams returned to track, ART’s Le topped the timesheets with a 1:28.743, while Fionn McLaughlin improved from last to P12. MP Motorsport’s Taponen currently sits in P2, with teammates Colnaghi and Giusti running in 6th and 7th, respectively.

Three red flags close out Day 1

The session’s first red flag appeared when Enzo Deligny stopped on track at Turn 4, but he was able to get his car going and return to the pit lane. As the green light reappeared, teams worked hard to change car setups, while Nicola Lacorte went to P4 for DAMS Lucas Oil. However, soon after, Colnaghi got stuck in the gravel at the final corner, bringing out the second red flag.

With less than 60 minutes left in the session, another red flag came when Kato stopped on track at Turn 10.

The final minutes of the afternoon session saw several teams, including Rodin Motorsport, DAMS, Campos, and TRIDENT, fit new tyres. With this change, Campos Racing’s Ugochukwu went up to P2, just 0.116s off Le’s leading time. However, to end the session, Freddie Slater jumped into P1 with a 1:28.411, knocking Le down to P2.

The final top ten featured Slater, Le, Ugochukwu, Sharp, Taponen, Wharton, Strømsted, Kato, Lacorte, and rookie Gladysz.