Photo: FIA F3 European Championship/Thomas Suer
Formula 3 rookie Charles Leclerc has set the early pace ahead of this weekend’s opening round of the European Championship, topping the morning running at the pre-event test by nearly half a second.
The Formula Renault 2.0 graduate set a best time of 1m50.574s, and was the only driver to get below the 1m51s mark.
0.467 seconds back in P2 was Antonio Giovinazzi, who triggered a red flag towards the end of the session.
Close behind in third was his Carlin team-mate George Russell, and Callum Ilott made it three of the British team’s cars in the top four.
F3 veteran Felix Rosenqvist was fifth fastest for his new team Prema, while an impressive sixth was Raoul Hyman in his first official test after securing West-Tec’s second seat last week.
Seventh was Markus Pommer ahead of his predecessor as German F3 champion Marvin Kirchhofer, eighth for Eurointernational after missing last month’s Valencia test due to GP3 commitments.
Michele Beretta was ninth as Mucke Motorsport’s quickest driver, and Italian F4 champion Lance Stroll was tenth for Prema.
Morning session results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Charles Leclerc | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:50.574 | 51 | |
| 2 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Carlin | 1:51.041 | 0.467 | 32 |
| 3 | George Russell | Carlin | 1:51.054 | 0.480 | 37 |
| 4 | Callum Ilott | Carlin | 1:51.439 | 0.865 | 43 |
| 5 | Felix Rosenqvist | Prema Powerteam | 1:51.634 | 1.060 | 38 |
| 6 | Raoul Hyman | Team West-Tec | 1:51.667 | 1.093 | 28 |
| 7 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | 1:51.860 | 1.286 | 37 |
| 8 | Marvin Kirchhofer | Eurointernational | 1:51.893 | 1.319 | 55 |
| 9 | Michele Beretta | Mucke Motorsport | 1:51.898 | 1.324 | 43 |
| 10 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | 1:51.953 | 1.379 | 38 |
| 11 | Jake Dennis | Prema Powerteam | 1:52.035 | 1.461 | 40 |
| 12 | Alex Albon | Signature | 1:52.066 | 1.492 | 41 |
| 13 | Brandon Maisano | Prema Powerteam | 1:52.084 | 1.510 | 43 |
| 14 | Julio Moreno | T-Sport | 1:52.164 | 1.590 | 51 |
| 15 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | 1:52.217 | 1.643 | 37 |
| 16 | Nicolas Beer | Eurointernational | 1:52.254 | 1.680 | 37 |
| 17 | Matt Solomon | Double R Racing | 1:52.362 | 1.788 | 53 |
| 18 | Fabian Schiller | West-Tec | 1:52.412 | 1.838 | 54 |
| 19 | Maximilian Gunther | Mucke Motorsport | 1:52.423 | 1.849 | 42 |
| 20 | Gustavo Menezes | Carlin | 1:52.439 | 1.865 | 40 |
| 21 | Alessio Lorandi | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:52.505 | 1.931 | 55 |
| 22 | Sam MacLeod | Motopark | 1:52.549 | 1.975 | 33 |
| 23 | Santino Ferrucci | Mucke Motorsport | 1:52.584 | 2.010 | 37 |
| 24 | Arjun Maini | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:52.598 | 2.024 | 41 |
| 25 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | 1:52.619 | 2.045 | 55 |
| 26 | Mikkel Jensen | Mucke Motorsport | 1:52.631 | 2.057 | 42 |
| 27 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark | 1:52.656 | 2.082 | 46 |
| 28 | Ryan Tveter | Carlin | 1:52.856 | 2.282 | 49 |
| 29 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | 1:52.901 | 2.327 | 30 |
| 30 | Tatiana Calderon | Carlin | 1:52.927 | 2.353 | 32 |
| 31 | Peter Li | Fortec Motorsports | 1:52.996 | 2.422 | 33 |
| 32 | Nicolas Pohler | Double R Racing | 1:53.009 | 2.435 | 44 |
| 33 | Martin Cao | Fortec Motorsports | 1:53.251 | 2.677 | 24 |
| 34 | Dorian Boccolacci | Signature | 1:53.266 | 2.692 | 44 |
| 35 | Kang Ling | Mucke Motorsport | 1:53.332 | 2.758 | 32 |
| 36 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | Motopark | 1:53.480 | 2.906 | 55 |