Charles Leclerc once again topped a GP3 Series session as the Monégasque continued his excellent form from the opening round in Spain. The ART Grand Prix driver topped the morning session at Spielberg and remained in front as the drivers behind failed to improve their times in the afternoon.
His time of 1:19.171, proved to be the quickest of the day, over half a second quicker than team-mate Nyck de Vries as the ART Grand Prix drivers dominated the day.
Oscar Tunjo was the first driver to dip under the 1 minute 20 second mark just past the hour mark. He proved to be one of the few able to keep pace with the ART’s as the French team put their marker down, filling the top three spaces overall.
It wasn’t a perfect day for Tunjo though, as he brushed against the barrier midway through the morning bringing out the red flag. He’d do the same in the afternoon as he stopped on track with compatriot Tatiana Calderon following suit.
After the brief morning stoppage, the ART’s finally decided to show their hand with Leclerc taking the early initiative. His team mates and himself traded blows for a number of laps before the Ferrari Driver Academy driver set a scorching lap time, half a second quicker than de Vries.
Alexander Albon completed an ART top three for the morning session, pushing Tunjo into fourth ahead of Jake Hughes and Nirei Fukuzumi.
As the afternoon test got underway, it was the Japanese driver who took the initiative, moving into an early lead before Leclerc and fellow Ferrari Academy driver Antonio Fuoco topped the time sheets. This had been partially interrupted with Steijn Schothorst causing a red flag after parking his Campos Racing machine on track.
As the flag dropped, Fuoco would remain on top with his time pushing him up to fourth on the overall standings. Behind him, Leclerc and de Vries and rounded out the top three for the afternoon, failing to improve on their morning pace.
GP3 Series Spielberg Test: Day 1 Combined Times
[table id=1165 /]
