AS IT HAPPENED: Follow the action from Day 2 of pre-season testing in Barcelona

OVERVIEW

• Day 2 of pre-season testing in Barcelona as 2026 campaign gets underway
• Freddie Slater fastest in the morning session ahead of Noah Stromsted and Taito Kato
• Teams have three hours of running in the morning, a two-hour lunch break and three hours in the afternoon
• Follow the live timing here

DAY 2 WRAP UP

Well that is it for Day 2. Stay tuned to our website for the report and reactions, and also to our socials for the behind the scenes of testing.

Also be sure to join us for the final day of running this week tomorrow morning at 09:00 local time. See you then!

AFTERNOON'S TOP-10

Ugochukwu leads the way ahead of Heuzenroeder and Nael, with Badoer and Ho in fourth and fifth for Rodin. Deligny is sixth, with VAR teammate Del Pino in seventh. Hitech's McLaughlin, Tramnitz and Nakamura round out the top-10.

CHEQUERED FLAG

That just about wraps up the second day of pre-season testing in Barcelona, with Ugochukwu on top in the afternoon ahead of Heuzenroeder and Nael.

The fastest time of the day though belongs to Freddie Slater once again, who was quickest in the morning's Qualifying simulations runs ahead of Noah Stromsted and Taito Kato.

RED FLAG

Enzo Deligny is in the gravel between Turns 7 and 8.

CAMPOS 1-2-3

Campos have sent their drivers out on those new tyres and Ugochukwu is now on top with a 1:28.241. Patrick Heuzenroeder is just over two-tenths behind in second, with Nael third.

NEW TYRES?

Well the temperatures have dropped and some teams did not run as many sets of the new Hard tyre as others this morning. Right now, VAR and Campos have fitted on fresh rubber to their cars, but it remains to be seen whether they bring them out of the pitlane for some flying laps.

BUSY END TO THE DAY

If you thought that the session would wind down to a quiet end, you were mistaken. We have seen Ugochukwu go fastest for Campos, before having his time beaten by a whole host of drivers.

Currently, it is Tim Tramnitz on top for Hitech with a 1:30.218, just 0.012s ahead of Jin Nakamura.

CHANGE AT THE TOP

Benavides has now put AIX back on top with a 1:31.331.

FINAL HOUR UPDATE

It has been a strong few minutes for TRIDENT, who have all three cars on race runs at the moment. Slater is in P1, but Stromsted is third, while Matteo De Palo has just gone up to third.

Elsewhere, the second set of race runs are underway, with several drivers doing practice starts at the the pit exit.

SLATER BACK ON TOP

Slater is back out on track and has wasted no time in going fastest. His 1:31.408 is now the time to beat.

ANY UPDATES

Not a lot is happening at the moment. After their first set of long runs, the drivers are back in the pitlane talking things over with the team. Taponen, for example, was having a pretty in depth conversation with his engineers and other team personnel.

As we approach the start of the final hour, expect the drivers to be back out on track soon for some more laps.

TAPONEN HAPPY WITH THE MORNING

Taponen wound up fifth in the morning session, but after his two runs, he posted the fastest time. Heading into the afternoon, he is happy with what has been done.

"Day 2, morning session was quite good. In terms of pace, it's difficult to say because everyone is testing obviously. But we did what we wanted to do and everything looked good. We did quali runs and one race sim.

"Quali runs looked good. The race, we don't know because the others didn't drive, so we were the only ones on track almost. Now we will see a bit more about the race runs."

XIE PRAISES DAMS

At one stage, DAMS and Xie were at the top of the timesheets, but they chose not to do a third run on new tyres. The Chinese driver wound up 10th in the session, and is very happy with how things are going.

"It was quite nice, I think. After the second set, we didn't go for the third. So I think while the track is improving, so are the other drivers.

"But no, I'm quite happy with that run. It seems like we have good pace. I think we nailed the setup, got it quite right and it's good effort from the team."

HERE FROM UGO

We caught up with a few drivers over the lunch break to talk about their test so far. Campos Racing's Ugo Ugochukwu gave his view on events so far.

“It's a decent first two days. Productive running, but still a few more laps to do. So we'll keep pushing on. A few long runs this afternoon, so we will see how the deg is.”

30 MINUTE UPDATE

Race runs are well and truly underway, with Bruno del Pino having set the fastest time of the afternoon so far with a 1:32.219.

MORE ON RACE RUNS

Race simulations in testing are not simply about the times. The teams want to replicate real life situations for their drivers, especially the rookies. So their laps to the grid, the Formation Lap and the race starts.

Some teams will also want to simulate the drivers time in the pitlane before the laps to the grid and their time on the grid before the Formation Lap. It is all about making sure their drivers know what to expect before Round 1.

PLAN FOR THE AFTERNOON

If you are a fan of long runs then do we have good news for you. This afternoon will be all about race simulations. The temperature has risen, the teams have a lot of old tyres at their disposal and the plan is to do quite a few race runs.

GREEN LIGHT

Another three hours of on-track action begins.

SLATER ENDS UP ON TOP

It is another session with fast laps that ends up with Slater on top. Behind him his teammate Stromsted, with Kato third, Gladysz fourth and Taponen fifth. Benavides is sixth, ahead of Kanato Le, Hiyu Yamakoshi, Matteo De Palo, as Xie rounds out the top 10.

CHEQUERED FLAG

That is it for the first three hours of the day, and what a morning session it was, with Qualifying pace the main focus for the teams and drivers this morning.

WHAT IS HAPPENING?

We are heading into the final 30 minutes of what has been a very action-packed morning, with a lot of fast lap times.

Right now, MP Motorsport have sent their three drivers on a race run, while Campos sent out their drivers for a lap on old tyres, possibly looking to see if the setup is okay for their race runs.

WHAT NEXT

Well that just about concludes the Qualifying simulations for now. Several teams are currently working on their cars, while others have sent their drivers out on older tyres.

We may start seeing some long runs now, with just over an hour to go before lunch, or they may be testing different items to go for some race simulations after the break.

MORE NEW TYRES

Hitech have sent their drivers out on a new set. TRIDENT have done the same for De Palo and Stromsted. They are still chasing fast times.

SLATER TAKESOVER

He was fastest yesterday by quite a margin and he has done it again.

Slater's 1:27.020 puts him on top by over two-tenths.

ART 1-2

Taito Kato has been in fine form so far and that continues as he goes quickest on 1:27.317. His teammate Maciej Gladysz is just 0.003s behind.

TAPONEN BACK ON TOP

Stromsted briefly goes fastest on a 1:27.416, but Taponen's strong form continues as he goes just 0.014s quicker to return to the top.

NAEL UP TO P2

Théophile Nael has gone to P2, 0.083s off Xie's leading time. Nael's Campos teammate Ugochukwu had looked set to be quicker but last time in the final two sectors and stays in P10.

MORE QUALI LAPS

If you thought Qualifying simulations were done, you would be wrong. More cars on track on new tyres, readying up for some fast laps.

XIE GOES TO P1

A few teams have sent their drivers back out on new tyres and we have a few new names at the top of the timing screens.

Gerrard Xie has gone quickest for DAMS Lucas Oil on a 1:27.792, beating Brad Benavides to P1 by 0.111s.

WHY QUALIFYING SIMULATIONS ARE IMPORTANT

One of the things that drivers often talk about with Formula 3 is Qualifying, as they usually get one push lap to make it count, which is different to what they have faced before.

So during testing, not only will they be working on their pace, but they will be learning about tyre warmup and also about navigating traffic, especially with 30 cars on the track.

HITECH MAKE THEIR MOVE

Hitech left it later than their rivals to go on the new tyres and they have made it count with Jin Nakamura and Tim Tramnitz going to P3 and P4 respectively.

Fionn McLaughlin completes his lap to go to P13.

WIND CAUSING HAVOC

The track conditions are great for Qualifying runs right now, but the wind has been quite heavy all morning, and a few drivers have been caught out in the final corner, with some even going through the gravel.

TAPONEN TAKEOVER

Well that was very impressive from Tuukka Taponen, who goes quickest with a 1:28.064. That puts the MP Motorsport driver in P1, with a 0.278s advantage over Ugo Ugochukwu.

QUIET ON TRACK

All 30 cars are back in the pitlane. The teams will be making some setup changes and strapping on some new tyres ahead of the next set of laps.

TRIDENT HIT THE FRONT

TRIDENT are the first to put on a new set of tyres and Noah Stromsted has used that to go quickest with a 1:28.447.

Matteo De Palo is second, just over a second behind, while Freddie Slater is third having ran wide at the final corner. All three are back in the pitlane with the rest of the field.

SHARP ON TOP

PREMA showed good pace last night, Louis Sharp in particular was fourth fastest, and this time he has gone quickest of all with a 1:30.084, nearly two-tenths ahead of Taito Kato, with Ugo Ugochukwu in third.

WHAT TO EXPECT

Well to start the day, the teams have put on a used set of tyres. But there are those who plan to go for some Qualifying runs on new tyres later, with some teams possibly planning to throw two new sets on. Stay tuned for all the action!

GREEN LIGHT

Day 2 is underway!

RECAP OF DAY 1

Freddie Slater led the way on Day 1, leaving it late in the afternoon before topping the times with a 1:28.411. You can get his view on how things went here.

WELCOME TO DAY 2

Good morning from a cool yet windy Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where we are set to get the second day of pre-season testing up and running.