Leclerc fastest in both sessions on Day 2 of FIA F3 testing in Jerez

Arthur Leclerc ended Wednesday’s FIA Formula 3 Championship test at Circuito Jerez on top, having finished both the morning and afternoon session with the fastest time.

Prema Racing seemed to have the edge on the field over the two days, with Leclerc topping three sessions in total, and Oliver Bearman setting the fastest time on Tuesday afternoon.

The circuit dried throughout Day 2, while a wet circuit and intermittent rain kept times above the 1:33 barrier throughout Tuesday’s two sessions.

Prema’s second-year driver brought Tuesday’s times down by two and a half seconds by the end of Wednesday morning; the session ended with Leclerc setting a 1:30.634 ahead of Zak O’Sullivan (Carlin) and Caio Collet (MP Motorsport).

Morning

The early running on Wednesday morning was conducted on a still-wet track, despite times tumbling throughout the latter stages of Tuesday afternoon. 

Josep Maria Marti and Campos Racing went quickest early on at one of their home circuits, before slipping back as conditions became more favourable.

Victor Martins took the times into the 1:30s for the first time in the two-day test, and the track dried quickly as the field bolted on the slick Pirelli tyres.

Leclerc was ever-present towards the top of the times in Spain, and continued his positive start to the season by going back to the summit with a 1:30.628 as times edged closer to the sub-1:30 mark.

GB3 champion Zak O’Sullivan went six thousandths of a second slower for Carlin, with Collet third and Bahrain Race 2 winner Martins marginally behind both.

Franco Colapinto took pole for the second race in Bahrain with Van Amersfoort Racing, and was just ahead of the returning Oliver Rasmussen who finished the morning sixth. 

Juan Manuel Correa (ART Grand Prix) ended the session seventh, ahead of a trio of GB3 race-winners, Oliver Bearman, 2020 champion Kaylen Frederick (Hitech Grand Prix) and Reece Ushijima (VAR) to round out the top ten.

Afternoon

Collet topped the times early in the afternoon running, once the track had dried and brought the fastest times of the test.

The Brazilian set a 1:30.359, before Zane Maloney dropped under the 1:30 barrier, but Leclerc took his place at the top of the timesheets back with a 1:29.556 towards the end of the day.

Victor Martins was just a hundredth slower, ahead of Isack Hadjar and Colapinto, themselves separated by just 0.003s.

Oliver Rasmussen finished the session fifth, ahead of Frederick, Maloney and Oliver Bearman.

Gregoire Saucy ended testing at Jerez in ninth, just ahead of Roman Stanek.

FIA Formula 3 Testing – Circuito Jerez Day 2 AM

Pos.	No.	Name	Nat.	Team	Time
1	4	Arthur Leclerc	MON	Prema Racing	1:30.628
2	26	Zak O’Sullivan	GBR	Carlin	1:30.634
3	10	Caio Collet	BRA	MP Motorsport	1:30.653
4	7	Victor Martins	FRA	ART Grand Prix	1:30.671
5	29	Franco Colapinto	ARG	Van Amersfoort Racing	1:30.865
6	1	Oliver Rasmussen	DEN	Trident	1:31.060
7	9	Juan Manuel Correa	USA	ART Grand Prix	1:31.138
8	6	Oliver Bearman	GBR	Prema Racing	1:31.140
9	17	Kaylen Frederick	USA	Hitech Grand Prix	1:31.174
10	31	Reece Ushijima	USA	Van Amersfoort Racing	1:31.200
11	20	David Vidales	SPA	Campos Racing	1:31.269
12	22	Josep Maria Marti	SPA	Campos Racing	1:31.304
13	8	Gregoire Saucy	SUI	ART Grand Prix	1:31.318
14	2	Roman Stanek	CZE	Trident	1:31.418
15	11	Alexander Smolyar	FIA	MP Motorsport	1:31.424
16	25	William Alatalo	FIN	Jenzer Motorsport	1:31.440
17	21	Hunter Yeany	USA	Campos Racing	1:31.506
18	28	Enzo Trulli	ITA	Carlin	1:31.513
19	18	Isack Hadjar	FRA	Hitech Grand Prix	1:31.514
20	30	Rafael Villagomez	MEX	Van Amersfoort Racing	1:31.681
21	12	Kush Maini	IND	MP Motorsport	1:32.020
22	3	Zane Maloney	BAR	Trident	1:32.056
23	15	Ayrton Simmons	GBR	Charouz Racing System	1:32.114
24	27	Brad Benavides	USA	Carlin	1:32.315
25	24	Federico Malvestiti	ITA	Jenzer Motorsport	1:32.365
26	5	Jak Crawford	USA	Prema Racing	1:32.376
27	16	Francesco Pizzi	ITA	Charouz Racing System	1:32.507
28	19	Nazim Azman	MAL	Hitech Grand Prix	1:32.620
29	14	Laszlo Toth	HUN	Charouz Racing System	1:33.413
30	23	Ido Cohen	ISR	Jenzer Motorsport	1:33.625

FIA Formula 3 Testing – Circuito Jerez Day 2 PM

Pos.	No.	Name	Nat.	Team	Time
1	4	Arthur Leclerc	MON	Prema	1:29.366
2	7	Victor Martins	FRA	ART Grand Prix	1:29.380
3	18	Isack Hadjar	FRA	Hitech Grand Prix	1:29.611
4	29	Franco Colapinto	ARG	Van Amersfoort Racing	1:29.614
5	1	Oliver Rasmussen	DEN	Trident	1:29.634
6	17	Kaylen Frederick	USA	Hitech Grand Prix	1:29.720
7	3	Zane Maloney	BAR	Trident	1:29.799
8	6	Oliver Bearman	GBR	Prema Racing	1:29.835
9	8	Gregoire Saucy	SUI	ART Grand Prix	1:29.842
10	2	Roman Stanek	CZE	Trident	1:30.015
11	26	Zak O’Sullivan	GBR	Carlin	1:30.023
12	5	Jak Crawford	USA	Prema Racing	1:30.145
13	20	David Vidales	SPA	Campos Racing	1:30.157
14	10	Caio Collet	BRA	MP Motorsport	1:30.327
15	31	Reece Ushijima	USA	Van Amersfoort Racing	1:30.349
16	22	Josep Maria Marti	SPA	Campos Racing	1:30.401
17	9	Juan Manuel Correa	USA	ART Grand Prix	1:30.401
18	19	Nazim Azman	MAL	Hitech Grand Prix	1:30.456
19	28	Enzo Trulli	ITA	Carlin	1:30.482
20	16	Francesco Pizzi	ITA	Charouz Racing System	1:30.485
21	11	Alexander Smolyar	FIA	MP Motorsport	1:30.565
22	23	Ido Cohen	ISR	Jenzer Motorsport	1:30.582
23	25	William Alatalo	FIN	Jenzer Motorsport	1:30.659
24	30	Rafael Villagomez	MEX	Van Amersfoort Racing	1:30.675
25	21	Hunter Yeany	USA	Campos Racing	1:30.693
26	12	Kush Maini	IND	MP Motorsport	1:31.061
27	24	Federico Malvestiti	ITA	Jenzer Motorsport	1:31.090
28	15	Ayrton Simmons	GBR	Charouz Racing System	1:31.220
29	27	Brad Benavides	USA	Carlin	1:31.551
30	14	Laszlo Toth	HUN	Charouz Racing System	1:31.878