The fastest lap of the first day of post-season testing in Barcelona was set by Italian racer Matteo Nannini, who demonstrated the lessons he has learned from his debut season in FIA Formula 3 to take first place overall. Debuting with Campos Racing, Nannini’s best laptime was more than two tenths quicker than his nearest rival Jake Hughes, and three tenths better than Calan Williams in third.

The top ten was heavily dominated by returning drivers, though there was space for a debutant, as Victor Martins clinched fifth overall on his maiden outing for ART Grand Prix.

Jack Doohan dominated the second half of the day for Trident, ahead of Williams and Dennis Hauger, in an afternoon session which was heavily focused on race-simulations and data gathering.

MORNING

The field were treated to a dry and sunny morning in Barcelona, as MP Motorsport’s trio of rookies set the first lot of fast laps around the circuit, 45 minutes into the opening session. Franco Colapinto was the quickest of the three, clocking 1:34.841. The 2019 Spanish F4 champion finished the morning in 12th.

There was a brief red flag as Rafael Villagomez lost control of his Trident and spun on track. The Mexican did manage to get back out there, but ended up 29th in the order.

PREMA enjoyed a stint in first midway through the morning, before switching to longer runs. Hauger and David Schumacher took turns in P1, before slipping down to fourth and tenth.

Williams was enjoying the familiarity of the Jenzer Motorsport cockpit and twice topped the morning session, on the one-hour and two-hour markers. The Australian’s quickest time of 1:32.500 was good enough for third.

Nannini enjoyed a productive first day with Campos Racing, finding his rhythm in the final hour of the opening session to take first place ahead of Hughes by 0.257s.

Hughes had been drafted back into the F3 car by HWA to assist with development on Day 1 and put in an impressive 62 laps overall, but couldn’t resist a few flyers, topping the times for a period. In the end, his tour of 1:32.427 was good enough for second.

There was also a spot in the top ten for debutant Martins, who took fifth with ART Grand Prix, while the returning quartet of Enzo Fittipaldi, Roman Stanek, Doohan and Clément Novalak occupied sixth to ninth.

AFTERNOON

Williams initially returned to the top of the table at the start of the afternoon stint, but was overtaken by Igor Fraga ahead of the hour mark, testing for Hitech Grand Prix.

Very little changed until Doohan set in motion a final lot of flying laps for the field, with just over half an hour to go. Debuting for Trident, the Australian lapped quickest to nab first from Fraga. He briefly lost P1 to Hauger, but forced himself back in front on his next tour of the circuit.

PREMA attempted to flex their muscles in the closing half hour as their trio of drivers fleetingly went one-two-three in the order, with Hauger followed by Arthur Leclerc and Schumacher.

The 2020 Teams’ Champions couldn’t sustain it though, as Doohan reclaimed first and Williams stole second. Meanwhile, Stanek separated Hauger from his teammates, diving into fourth.

Despite being just 15 years old, Jak Crawford was impressing on his maiden F3 appearance outing with Hitech. The American sat sixth for a good while, before dropping down the order in the final minutes and finishing a respectable 15th.

Frenchman Martins continued his good work with ART, taking fifth in the afternoon stint. Fraga settled for sixth in the end, ahead of Leclerc. Ben Barnicoat was back in the Carlin garage and assisting with the team’s development, but still found time to set a lap good enough for eighth. Pierre-Louis Chovet and Olli Caldwell closed out the top ten.

Action will resume for the second and final day of post-season testing in Barcelona on Tuesday at 9am (local time).

2020 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – POST-SEASON TESTS, DAY 1, MORNING SESSION

1st – Matteo Nannini, Campos Racing, 1:32.170
2nd – Jake Hughes, HWA RACELAB, 1:32.427
3rd – Calan Williams, Jenzer Motorsport, 1:32.500
4th – Dennis Hauger, PREMA Racing, 1:32.512
5th – Victor Martins, ART Grand Prix, 1:32.527
6th – Enzo Fittipaldi, HWA RACELAB, 1:32.615
7th – Roman Stanek, ART Grand Prix, 1:32.625
8th – Jack Doohan, Trident, 1:32.777
9th – Clement Novalak, Trident, 1:32.816
10th – David Schumacher, PREMA Racing, 1:32.948
11th – Igor Fraga, Hitech Grand Prix, 1:33.069
12th – Franco Colapinto, MP Motorsport, 1:33.085
13th – Johnathan Hoggard, Jenzer Motorsport, 1:33.096
14th – Arthur Leclerc, PREMA Racing, 1:33.161
15th – Jak Crawford, Hitech Grand Prix, 1:33.286
16th – Michael Belov, Charouz Racing System, 1:33.331
17th – Ben Barnicoat, Carlin Buzz Racing, 1:33.450
18th – Oliver Rasmussen, Hitech Grand Prix, 1:33.492
19th – Pierre Louis Chovet, Campos Racing, 1:33.509
20th – Olli Caldwell, ART Grand Prix, 1:33.530
21st – William Alatalo, HWA RACELAB, 1:33.772
22nd – Sophia Floersch, Carlin Buzz Racing, 1:33.819
23rd – Ido Cohen, Carlin Buzz Racing, 1:33.838
24th – Jonny Edgar, MP Motorsport, 1:34.399
25th – Amaury Cordeel, MP Motorsport, 1:34.576
26th – Alessandro Famularo, Campos Racing, 1:34.613
27th – Filip Ugran, Jenzer Motorsport, 1:35.170
28th – Patrik Pasma, Charouz Racing System, 1:35.627
29th – Rafael Villagomez, Trident, 1:36.195
30th – Josef Knopp, Charouz Racing System, 1:36.541

2020 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP – POST-SEASON TESTS, DAY 1, AFTERNOON SESSION

1st – Jack Doohan, Trident, 1:33.068
2nd – Calan Williams, Jenzer Motorsport, 1:33.070
3rd – Dennis Hauger, PREMA Racing, 1:33.304
4th – Roman Stanek, ART Grand Prix, 1:33.345
5th – Victor Martins, ART Grand Prix, 1:33.376
6th – Igor Fraga, Hitech Grand Prix, 1:33.619
7th – Arthur Leclerc, PREMA Racing, 1:33.705
8th – Ben Barnicoat, Carlin Buzz Racing, 1:33.718
9th – Pierre Louis Chovet, Campos Racing, 1:33.723
10th – Olli Caldwell, ART Grand Prix, 1:33.743
11th – Enzo Fittipaldi, HWA RACELAB, 1:33.816
12th – David Schumacher, PREMA Racing, 1:33.827
13th – Franco Colapinto, MP Motorsport, 1:33.891
14th – Sophia Floersch, Carlin Buzz Racing, 1:33.931
15th – Jak Crawford, Hitech Grand Prix, 1:33.965
16th – Alessandro Famularo, Campos Racing, 1:33.988
17th – Matteo Nannini, Campos Racing, 1:34.053
18th – Johnathan Hoggard, Jenzer Motorsport, 1:34.068
19th – Amaury Cordeel, MP Motorsport, 1:34.139
20th – Michael Belov, Charouz Racing System, 1:34.260
21st – Clement Novalak, Trident, 1:34.388
22nd – Jonny Edgar, MP Motorsport, 1:34.389
23rd – Oliver Rasmussen, Hitech Grand Prix, 1:34.611
24th – Ido Cohen, Carlin Buzz Racing, 1:34.648
25th – William Alatalo, HWA RACELAB, 1:34.882
26th – Patrik Pasma, Charouz Racing System, 1:34.911
27th – Rafael Villagomez, Trident, 1:35.062
28th – Filip Ugran, Jenzer Motorsport, 1:35.387
29th – Jake Hughes, HWA RACELAB, 1:35.559
30th – Josef Knopp, Charouz Racing System, 1:35.758