2026 F3 Barcelona-Catalunya GP | Sprint Race results

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The Formula 3 (F3) Sprint Race at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya got underway with Gerrard Xie starting from reverse grid pole, alongside James Wharton on the front row. Before the race began, there were early disruptions as Taito Kato failed to get away from eighth on the grid and had his ART car pushed into the pitlane, whilst Mattia Colnaghi pitted at the end of the formation lap from 15th. When racing finally commenced, Xie held off Wharton’s challenge into Turn 1, though Wharton reclaimed second from Slater on lap three before seizing the lead on lap five.

The race was twice interrupted by the Safety Car. The first deployment came when Ernesto Rivera pulled off in the final sector, with the Virtual Safety Car preceding the full Safety Car. The second intervention followed Ugochukwu’s spin into the gravel at Turn 3 on lap 13, after the Campos driver attempted a switchback on Deligny. On both restarts, Wharton defended well at Turn 1 to protect his lead from Slater.

From the second restart, Wharton controlled the closing stages and built close to a second’s advantage, posting the fastest lap of the race in the process. Slater clawed back into DRS range on the penultimate lap, with Xie also applying pressure from third, but neither could find a way through. Wharton crossed the line to take victory for PREMA, with Xie holding off a late challenge from Taponen to secure third place.