Barcelona Tests – Day 3: Théophile Naël leads on the final day before Melbourne

After two days dominated by Briton Freddie Slater (Trident), it was Frenchman Théophile Naël's turn to dominate the proceedings. F3A Campos driver with an eye on the 2026 season, the Frenchman notably outpaced his direct rivals, Noah Stromted (Trident), FRECA champion Freddie Slater, and his Campos teammate, Ugo Ugochukwu, at the end of the morning session. In terms of lap times, the 2025 Macau Grand Prix winner set his personal best at 1:27.525. He thus missed out on the overall fastest time of these three days of testing, which was set by Freddie Slater on Wednesday morning (1:27.020).

Twelfth in the afternoon session, the morning's leader saw more surprising results at the end of this test session, as DAMS driver Nicola Lacorte set the fastest time with a 1:29.676, finishing ahead of his teammate Gerard Xie. During the more representative morning session, the less representative positions of the two other French drivers on the grid, Enzo Deligny in 18th (VAR) and Alessandro Giusti in 24th, are worth noting. While Deligny has been somewhat discreet this week, this is mainly due to his familiarization with his new team. Having prepared for the winter with Prema, this week was primarily a learning experience for him. As for Alessandro Giusti, food poisoning suffered the day before the start of these three days of testing somewhat hampered his week, likely preventing him from performing at his best under such circumstances.

Campos and Trident are making a strong start to Melbourne

Regardless of these setbacks, it seems the predictions placing Campos and Trident at the top of the standings once again are proving accurate. A five-way battle at this stage, the top spots could go to the three Trident drivers, as well as two of the three Campos drivers. Absent this week, Ernesto Rivera still seems to have much to learn – as evidenced by his lackluster Formula Regional Oceania campaign – although the Mexican's talent could lead him to a few podium finishes this season.

ALSO READ > Barcelona Trials – Day 2: Slater and Ugochukwu share the sessions

Finally, it's worth noting, as we review this third day of F3 testing in Barcelona, ​​the red flags caused by James Wharton going off the track, and the unexpected pit stops of José Garfias, Freddie Slater, and Fionn McLaughlin. In any case, the next stop for all the F3 drivers is now Melbourne, for the first race of the season on Australian soil.

Formula 3 – Barcelona Testing – Day 3
The ranking of the morning

The afternoon ranking