Italian Matteo Nannini finished the first day of the post-season FIA Formula 3 Championship test at Catalunya as the fastest driver as he lit up the timing screens to lead the morning session by over two tenths.
The seventeen year old drove for Jenzer during the 2020 season and surprised many with some standout performances, the best of which saw him claim his first and, to this day, only podium in F3 at the same circuit.
It perhaps wasn’t much of a shock to see Nannini setting fast lap times then after his previous success at this circuit despite switching to the Campos team for day one of the test. He will drive for ART tomorrow.
F3 veteran Jake Hughes was second fastest for HWA Racelab as he says his final goodbyes to Formula 3 racing after announcing that he will move on to pastures new from 2021.
The morning session saw the fastest times of the day as Jack Doohan ended the second session fastest, but he was still nine tenths off Nannini’s time and three tenths off his own best from the morning.
Doohan is driving for Trident in this test having raced for HWA Racelab in 2020 which saw him disappointed to not score a point in his rookie year.
Calan Williams was impressive in both sessions, finishing third and second respectively as he continued with the Jenzer for this test as he did during the season.
The two-day test is a prime opportunity for teams’ to give potential rookies next year a head start in their preparations with a host of Formula 3 newbies learning their trade.
The best of those rookies was Formula Renault Eurocup championship leader Victor Martins; the Frenchman, driving for ART, was fifth fastest in the morning session, beating some of 2020’s impressive rookies such as Enzo Fittipaldi and Clément Novalak.
Tomorrow sees the second and final day of the test which could be the last chance some drivers get to put themselves in the shop window for a drive in 2021.
| Pos. | Name | Team | Lap Time |
| 1 | Matteo Nannini | Campos | 1:32:170 |
| 2 | Jake Hughes | HWA Racelab | 1:32:427 |
| 3 | Calan Williams | Jenzer | 1:32:500 |
| 4 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 1:32:512 |
| 5 | Victor Martins | ART | 1:32:572 |
| 6 | Enzo Fittipaldi | HWA Racelab | 1:32:615 |
| 7 | Roman Stanek | ART | 1:32:625 |
| 8 | Jack Doohan | Trident | 1:32:777 |
| 9 | Clément Novalak | Trident | 1:32:816 |
| 10 | David Schumacher | PREMA | 1:32:948 |
| 11 | Igor Fraga | Hitech GP | 1:33:069 |
| 12 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 1:33:085 |
| 13 | Jonathan Hoggard | Jenzer | 1:33:096 |
| 14 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 1:33:161 |
| 15 | Jak Crawford | Hitech GP | 1:33:286 |
| 16 | Michael Belov | Charouz | 1:33:331 |
| 17 | Ben Barnicoat | Carlin | 1:33:450 |
| 18 | Oliver Rasmussen | Hitech GP | 1:33:492 |
| 19 | Pierre-Louis Chovet | Campos | 1:33:509 |
| 20 | Olli Caldwell | ART | 1:33:530 |
| 21 | William Alatalo | HWA Racelab | 1:33:772 |
| 22 | Sophia Floersch | Carlin | 1:33:819 |
| 23 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | 1:33:838 |
| 24 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 1:34:399 |
| 25 | Amaury Cordeel | MP Motorsport | 1:34:576 |
| 26 | Alessandro Famularo | Campos | 1:34:613 |
| 27 | Filip Ugran | Jenzer | 1:35:170 |
| 28 | Patrik Pasma | Charouz | 1:35:627 |
| 29 | Rafael Villagomez | Trident | 1:36:195 |
| 30 | Josef Knopp | Charouz | 1:36:541 |
| Pos. | Name | Team | Lap Time |
| 1 | Jack Doohan | Trident | 1:33:068 |
| 2 | Calan Williams | Jenzer | 1:33:070 |
| 3 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA | 1:33:304 |
| 4 | Roman Stanek | ART | 1:33:345 |
| 5 | Victor Martins | ART | 1:33:376 |
| 6 | Igor Fraga | Hitech GP | 1:33:619 |
| 7 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 1:33:705 |
| 8 | Ben Barnicoat | Carlin | 1:33:718 |
| 9 | Pierre-Louis Chovet | Campos | 1:33:723 |
| 10 | Olli Caldwell | ART | 1:33:743 |
| 11 | Enzo Fittipaldi | HWA Racelab | 1:33:816 |
| 12 | David Schumacher | PREMA | 1:33:827 |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | 1:33:891 |
| 14 | Sophia Floersch | Carlin | 1:33:931 |
| 15 | Jak Crawford | Hitech GP | 1:33:965 |
| 16 | Alessandro Famularo | Campos | 1:33:988 |
| 17 | Matteo Nannini | Campos | 1:34:053 |
| 18 | Jonathan Hoggard | Jenzer | 1:34:068 |
| 19 | Amaury Cordeel | MP Motorsport | 1:34:139 |
| 20 | Michael Belov | Charouz | 1:34:260 |
| 21 | Clément Novalak | Trident | 1:34:388 |
| 22 | Jonny Edgar | MP Motorsport | 1:34:389 |
| 23 | Oliver Rasmussen | Hitech GP | 1:34:611 |
| 24 | Ido Cohen | Carlin | 1:34:648 |
| 25 | William Alatalo | HWA Racelab | 1:34:882 |
| 26 | Patrik Pasma | Charouz | 1:34:911 |
| 27 | Rafael Villagomez | Trident | 1:35:062 |
| 28 | Filip Ugran | Jenzer | 1:35:387 |
| 29 | Jake Hughes | HWA Racelab | 1:35:559 |
| 30 | Josef Knopp | Charouz | 1:35:758 |
