On the final day of pre-season testing, F3 teams tackled wet conditions, a sharp contrast to the drier track on Wednesday and Thursday. The damp track allowed drivers to test their confidence and skills in the rain while giving teams valuable experience with this year’s wet Pirelli tyres.
Stenshorne gets morning session underway
With the wet tyres fitted to their cars, the F3 drivers took to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, hoping to maximise their time on track, despite the tricky conditions. Hitech TGR’s Martinius Stenshorne was the first to set a representative lap time on the final day of F3 pre-season testing. His 1:45.844 was the early benchmark of the day, despite being more than 18 seconds off the top time of 1:27.249 set on Thursday by Campos Racing’s Nicola Tsolov.
However, there would be no real opportunity for Stenshorne’s rivals to quickly topple him from his place at the top of the timesheet. Just 15 minutes into the session, a red flag halted running after Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues spun into the gravel at Turn 5. Although marshals swiftly recovered his car and the session resumed, another red flag followed when Bruno del Pino went off at the same corner. Further around the track, Trident’s Charlie Wurz had also stopped at Turn 9.
Tsolov goes top with 2 hours to go
When running finally got back underway, Nikola Tsolov, who topped both sessions on Thursday, was quick to return to the top of the time sheet. He was the first driver of the day to put in a time under 1:44, with his 1:43.631 putting him 0.7 seconds clear of Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp who settled into P2. Sharp, however, would not have the opportunity to challenge Tsolov for the top position. He caused the third Red Flag of the morning session after stopping at Turn 4.
Though the track would return to green flag conditions after Sharp’s car was recovered, it was not long before the session was red-flagged for the fourth time. As the midpoint of the session approached, DAMS Lucas Oil’s Matías Zagazeta, spun into the wall out of Turn 9.
After marshals returned Zagazeta’s car to the pit lane, the morning session resumed with Trident’s Noah Strømsted and ART Grand Prix’s Tuukka Taponen then improving their times. They were, however, unable to displace Tsolov Stromsted from the top of the timesheet, instead slotting into second and third place respectively. Strømsted’s teammate, Rafael Câmara then moved into fourth, pushing Sharp down to fifth.
The next driver to challenge Tsolov was ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen. However, despite the Dutchman’s best efforts, he could not top Tsolov’s benchmark time. He settled for second, 0.159 seconds down from Tsolov’s 1:43.631.
Van Hoepen’s lap was the last of significance before another red flag interrupted the session. For the second time of the day, Domingues caused a stoppage—this time after beaching his car at Turn 10, requiring assistance to return to the pit lane.
Personal bests set as session draws to its end
The final hour of the morning session of Friday’s F3 pre-season testing would see Tsolov’s hold at the top finally come under threat. Once the session returned to green, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Théophile Naël broke into the top five, temporarily claiming third place. He was, however, pushed down to fourth after van Hoepen finally claimed his position at the top of the time sheet, setting a new benchmark of 1:43.623. Naël, however, would soon have his revenge. His time of 1:43.298 saw him claim the top spot, ahead of van Hoepen.
However, the best times would not come until the final 15 minutes of the session, with Câmara kicking off the late flurry of action. He improved his time to 1:42.750, taking P1. As the checkered flag waved, settled into second. His time of 1:42.708 saw Trident end the session with a 1-2. Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin rounded out the top three with 1 time of 1:42.884.
Joshua Dufek secured fourth for Hitech TGR, while Naël settled for fifth despite briefly holding the session’s benchmark time. Tsolov finished sixth, followed by Strømsted in seventh, Rodin Motorsport’s Roman Bilinski in eighth, and Prema Racing’s Brando Badoer in ninth. DAMS Lucas Oil’s Nicola Lacorte completed the top 10 in the final morning session of the 2025 F3 pre-season test.
Voisin leads afternoon session
Rodin Motorsport kicked off the afternoon’s activities, with Callum Vosin leading their 1-2 in the opening minutes of the session. Vosin’s time of 1:44.533 set the afternoon’s benchmark, beating out Roman Bilinski by 0.290 seconds. Vosin held on to his place at the top of the timesheet for half a hour before Trident’s Noah Strømsted claimed P1 with a 1:44.178.
Despite the competitive start to the second session of the day, the afternoon session would be as disrupted as the morning’s. Not long after Stromsted took his place at the top of the timesheet, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Théophile Naël caused the first Red Flag of the afternoon. He came to a halt on the main straight by the pit exit and required the recovery of his car.
With two hours remaining, the session resumed, but drivers had little chance to build momentum before another red flag halted running just over 30 minutes later. This time, DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho and Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp triggered the stoppage, both ending up in the gravel at Turn 5 after separate off-track excursions. After the recovery team returned the cars to the pitlane, the session resumed with an hour and 20 minutes to go.
Unfortunately, another incident soon halted the session again. Like his teammate before him, DAMS Lucas Oil’s Nicola Lacorte brought out the Red Flag after beaching himself in the gravel at Turn 5. The session resumed with just about an hour of run time left after the recovery team returned Lacorte’s car to the pitlane.
Sharp goes top
Sharp was the first to find his pace upon resumption of the testing session. He improved his time to 1:44.483 to take his place at the top of the time sheet. Though Trident’s Rafael Câmara would exactly match Sharp’s time, the former would hold on to P1, improving to 1:43.886. Despite a good effort, Câmara could not match Sharp’s time. He settled for P2, 0.026 seconds down.
Any further battle between the two drivers was briefly interrupted when Prema Racing’s Noel León brought out another red flag. He became yet another driver to slide into the gravel at Turn 5. Once his car was recovered, the session resumed, giving drivers a final 20 minutes of track time.
Voisin sets top time of the day on final lap
The best times of the day would be set during these final 20 minutes. Voisin, Strømsted, and Câmara led the charge, with Câmara immediately claiming the top spot on the timesheet with 1:42.611. However, unlike before, Sharp was not able to go faster, instead settling for second, 0.151 seconds behind. Naël placed his VAR third, just 0.020s behind Sharp.
Naël briefly claimed the top spot after improving his time, but Voisin soon knocked him down, becoming the first driver of the afternoon session to break into the 1:41s after switching to hard tyres on the drying track. Câmara then returned to the top of the timesheet with 1:41.454 on the wet tyres before dropping to second when MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz went faster, setting a time of 1:40.887 on the hard tyres.
Ultimately, however, it was Voisin who would set the top time of the day. His final lap time of 1:39.031, saw him end the session more than 1.8 seconds ahead of Tramnitz, who himself had been just over 0.5 seconds faster than Câmara. The Campos Racing duo of Mari Boya and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak rounded out the top five, with Rodin Motorsport’s Bilinski and Sharp setting for sixth and seventh respectively. Despite his strong effort, Naël ended the season eighth, ahead of ninth-place Strømsted and tenth-place Stenshorne.
2025 F3 pre-season testing comes to end
After three days of pre-season testing at the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya, the teams will find themselves with a plethora of data to analyse, ahead of the 2025 F3 season opener. F3 will return to action in March with Round 1 at the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne, Australia scheduled from March 14-16.
