Stenshorne leads shortened Barcelona F3 practice session

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

McLaren junior Martinius Stenshorne topped a quiet Formula 3 practice session at Barcelona that was curtailed by a crash for local driver Mari Boya.

On a circuit that hosted three days of in-season testing in April, teams were in no hurry to clock up the laps when the session began. While a dozen drivers went out for a single installation lap, the rest remained in the pits, and around half of the allotted 45 minutes had passed before the majority of the field emerged onto the track.

Championship leader Gabriele Mini soon went to the top of the times, where he stayed until being displaced by Oliver Goethe inside the final 15 minutes.

With around 10 minutes remaining, Kacper Sztuka – now in the traditional orange of MP Motorsport after losing the backing of Red Bull – ran well wide through the gravel trap at the final corner and continued.

Stenshorne hit the top with seven minutes to go, posting a 1m28.774s.

His Hitech GP team-mate Luke Browning also moved up to fourth, but was then involved in an incident with fellow championship Leonardo Fornaroli, who was forced to brake hard when he came across the slower Browning on the entry to Turn 12.

Shortly after that, Boya went straight on into the barriers at Turn 1 after what appeared to be a mechanical issue as he hit the brakes. The Campos Racing drivers had been, along with Sztuka, the only driver yet to set a representative time.

With the clock ticking underneath four minutes to go, the session was red-flagged and would not be restarted.

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