Pre-season testing for the FIA Formula 3 Championship got underway at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this week, with GB3 race-winner Freddie Slater topping the times.
The 17-year-old British driver was quickest on the first and second days of the three day test at the Spanish Grand Prix venue, with his day two topper of 1m27.020s being the fastest of the week.
Having won three GB3 races last year in addition to his Formula Regional European Championship title, Slater has joined Trident Motorsport for his F3 graduation, and his performance in testing so far backs up his status as one of the pre-season favourites.
Seven other GB3 graduates were in action at the test, including 2025 runner-up Patrick Heuzenroeder. The Australian isn't actually scheduled to compete in F3 this year, but was brought in for the test by Campos to substitute for an injured driver. Having not driven F3 machinery before this week, he impressed massively by setting the second quickest time in the afternoon session on day two, while his best for the week was less than a second away from Slater's outright best.
Slater's 2025 GB3 teammates Kanato Le and Hiyu Yamakoshi were inside the top-10 on the combined time sheet for the week, as was 2024 GB3 podium finisher Ugo Ugochukwu.
Gerrard Xie and 2024 champion Louis Sharp were also in action as they gear up for their second campaigns at F3 level.