Jin Nakamura was the fastest driver in the only free practice session for the decisive round of Formula 3, held early Friday morning (11) at Madring, a street circuit located in Madrid, Spain. The Japanese driver, who races for the Hitech team, recorded his best lap time of 1min49s835, not being surpassed by his rivals.
Read more F2: Tsolov leads free practice marked by strong accident of Inthraphuvasak
The second position went to Taito Kato, an ART Grand Prix driver who was 0.101 seconds slower than Nakamura. Enzo Deligny, driving a Van Amersfoort car, finished the session in third place, followed by title contender Ugo Ugochukwu from Campos Racing. Ernesto Rivera, also from Campos, completed the top 5.
Championship leader Freddie Slater was sixth fastest with Trident, followed by Fionn McLaughlin, seventh with a Hitech car. Tuukka Taponen, from MP Motorsport, closed the session with the eighth best time, ahead of Brazilian Pedro Clerot, ninth with Rodin Motorsport. Matteo De Palo, from Trident, was tenth. Fernando Barrichello was 26th with AIX Racing.
Read more Spain GP 2026: the live of F1 FP1 in Madrid
The session that opened the F3 weekend at Madring ended under a red flag after an accident involving Italian Nicola Lacorte. The DAMS driver hit the wall at turn 9 of the Spanish circuit in the final moments of the session, and there was no time to clear the track for the resumption of activity.
From 1:25 PM, qualifying will take place, which will have two phases due to the two Sprint races. Saturday will feature the Sprint at 6:05 AM and the first main race at 1:00 PM. The 2026 season finale will conclude on Sunday with a race at 4:45 AM.
Read more Alonso does not rule out leaving Formula 1 for another category in 2027
