Photo: FIA Formula 3 European Championship
Maximilian Gunther posted the fastest time in the pre-season test day ahead of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship opener at Paul Ricard.
Gunther’s Prema team rarely shows its true pace in testing and that was the case in the two days of running at Vallelunga earlier in March, but Gunther was unleashed in the afternoon to set a time of 1m21.481s.
That was just four thousandths of a second ahead of his former ADAC Formel Masters rival and 2015 team-mate?Mikkel Jensen.
Lance Stroll was just a hundredth off his team-mate Gunther’s pace in third, while?Motopark rookie?Joel?Eriksson was within 0.028s of the German in fourth. Another Motopark driver?Sergio Sette Camara was the last driver?within a tenth?in fifth place.
Hitech’s?George Russell was sixth?in front of Prema driver?Nick Cassidy. Formula Renault graduate?Anthoine Hubert was the best Van Amersfoort Racing driver in eighth, while Italian Formula 4 champion?Ralf Aron?ensured all four Prema drivers were inside the top 10.
Completing the top 10 was?Niko Kari, whose Motopark team had continued its strong form with Sette Camara leading the slower morning session ahead of Hubert and Jensen.
Combined test day times
| Pos | Driver | Team | Session 1 | Session 2 |
| 1 | Maximilian Gunther | Prema Powerteam | 1:22.553 | 1:21.481 |
| 2 | Mikkel Jensen | Mucke Motorsport | 1:22.233 | 1:21.485 |
| 3 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | 1:22.507 | 1:21.491 |
| 4 | Joel Eriksson | Motopark | 1:22.386 | 1:21.509 |
| 5 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | 1:22.123 | 1:21.564 |
| 6 | George Russell | HitechGP | 1:22.642 | 1:21.649 |
| 7 | Nick Cassidy | Prema Powerteam | 1:22.773 | 1:21.697 |
| 8 | Anthoine Hubert | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:22.140 | 1:21.723 |
| 9 | Ralf Aron | Prema Powerteam | 1:22.904 | 1:21.761 |
| 10 | Niko Kari | Motopark | 1:23.161 | 1:21.817 |
| 11 | Callum Ilott | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:22.477 | 1:21.954 |
| 12 | Pedro Piquet | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:22.404 | 1:21.968 |
| 13 | Ben Barnicoat | HitechGP | 1:22.675 | 1:21.981 |
| 14 | Raoul Hyman | Carlin | 1:22.741 | 1:21.991 |
| 15 | Alessio Lorandi | Carlin | 1:22.910 | 1:21.999 |
| 16 | Harrison Newey | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:22.400 | 1:22.098 |
| 17 | Ryan Tveter | Carlin | 1:22.266 | 1:22.227 |
| 18 | Guan Yu Zhou | Motopark | 1:22.855 | 1:22.241 |
| 19 | Nikita Mazepin | HitechGP | 1:23.189 | 1:22.439 |
| 20 | Arjun Maini | ThreeBond with T-Sport | 1:23.256 | 1:23.114 |
| 21 | Li Zhi Cong | Carlin | 1:23.811 | 1:23.317 |