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.
2026 F3 Barcelona-Catalunya Sprint Race results
- James Wharton
- Freddie Slater
- Gerrard Xie
- Tuukka Taponen
- Enzo Deligny
- Bruno Del Pino
- Hiyu Yamakoshi
- Théophile Naël
- Louis Sharp
- Brando Badoer**
- Noah Strømsted
- Alessandro Giusti
- Pedro Clerot
- Kanato Le
- Taito Kato
- Nicola Lacorte*
- Fernando Barrichello
- Jin Nakamura
- Yevan David
- Fionn McLaughlin
- Woohyun Shin
- Ricardo Escotto
- Maciej Gładysz*
- Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi*
- Matteo De Palo*
- Christian Ho*
- José Garfias
Not classified
- Ugo Ugochukwu
- Ernesto Rivera
- Mattia Colnaghi
Penalties:
- *Maciej Gładysz was issued a drive-through penalty for starting from an incorrect grid position. This was converted to a 20-second time penalty and added to his final race time. He also received a five-second time penalty for a false start. He drops to P23 from P12.
- *Matteo De Palo was issued a drive-through penalty for starting from an incorrect grid position. This was converted to a 20-second time penalty and added to his final race time.
- *Christian Ho was issued a drive-through penalty for starting from an incorrect grid position. This was converted to a 20-second time penalty and added to his final race time. He also received a 10-second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, and a 5-second penalty for a false start. This dropped him to P26.
- *Nicola Lacorte received a five-second time penalty for a false start but retained P16.
- *Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi received a five-second time penalty for exceeding track limits. He was ultimately classified P24.
- **Brando Badoer’s in-race 10-second time penalty was rescinded following a Right of Review. This decision restored him to P10.
