Tsolov sweeps opening day of Sakhir in-season test

Nikola Tsolov made it a clean sweep of both sessions on the opening day of the in-season test in Sakhir. His 1:48.901, set in the afternoon, proved to be the fastest time of Day 1.

The Campos Racing driver was the fastest out of the blocks in the morning, completing a 1:49.336 to lead ART Grand Prix’s Tuukka Taponen, the Finn also finishing second to Tsolov in the afternoon segment.

MORNING

Installation laps complete, and the first times filtered through with Ugo Ugochukwu going fastest on a 1:49.397, putting the PREMA Racing driver 0.282s clear of his teammate Noel León.

Rodin Motorsport were the next team to put two cars at the top. Roman Bilinski went to P1 thanks to a 1:49.853 as the first hour ended, while his teammate Louis Sharp was just 0.053s behind, in second.

The next improvements came as the session entered into the final 60 minutes, as Campos’ Tsolov went top with a 1:49.336. ART driver Taponen was his closest challenger, nearly two-tenths back in second.

TRIDENT’s Rafael Câmara was next to make his move up the leaderboard, completing a 1:49.828 to go to P3, finishing 0.492s off Tsolov’s leading time.

There were no further changes to the timesheets for the remaining 20 minutes. However, drivers continued to round the Sakhir track, with DAMS Lucas Oil’s Christian Ho the busiest of all, completing 26 laps.

AFTERNOON

It was a busy start to the afternoon with every team barring Hitech TGR sending their drivers out straight away. But it was TRIDENT that set the early pace, Câmara leading a 1-2-3 for the Italian outfit, ahead of Charlie Wurz and Noah Stromsted, on a 1:50.062.

DAMS were the next to have their drivers go to the top, with Ho’s 1:40.917 placing him 0.104s clear of teammate Nicola Lacorte. The Singaporean improved again, lowering his time to a 1:49.913 soon after.

However, they were soon split by the Hitech of Martinius Stenshorne, who wound up just 0.008s off Ho’s leading time, in second.

Times began to tumble once again as the session entered into it’s final 45 minutes, with Santiago Ramos, Tsolov and Taponen taking turns at the top.

However, it was eventually Tsolov who claimed P1, as his 1:48.901 was good enough by just 0.014s to take the fastest lap honour away from Taponen.

With less than four minutes to go, Alessandro Giusti stopped on track, bringing out the Red Flags and also an end to the day’s running.

That wraps up Day 1 of in-season testing, but the drivers are set to return to the Sakhir track tomorrow morning at 09:30 local time.

2025 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - SAKHIR IN-SEASON TEST, DAY 1, MORNING SESSION

2025 FIA FORMULA 3 CHAMPIONSHIP - SAKHIR IN-SEASON TEST, DAY 1, AFTERNOON SESSION