Leonardo Pulcini ends Barcelona test on top

Leonardo Pulcini

Leonardo Pulcini was once again quickest on Day 2 of the second FIA Formula 3 pre-season testing at Barcelona, Spain. The Italian ace from Hitech Grand Prix clocked in a time of a 1:32.222 in the morning session to top the day overall ahead of ART Grand Prix teammates Christian Lundgaard and Max Fewtrell.

The day opened on a wet circuit following overnight showers. The proceedings were halted in the very early stages after Alessio Deledda span and stopped at Turn 3. On a rapidly drying track Lundgaard set the initial pace in a 1:33.750.

On the one hour mark Teppei Natori went wide at Turn 9 and ended into the tire barrier bringing out a second red flag and his day to an early close. At the re-start Jehan Daruvala was the first man to dip under 1m33s, but it was Alex Peroni who set the fastest laptime in a 1:32.460 before three consecutive red flag periods including one courtesy of the Campos man who stopped at Turn 13.

With one hour left in the session, Lundgaard and Fewtrell moved up to P1 and P2 respectively but Pulcini found some extra pace to improve on the Dane’s time and went top. The top 3 remained unchallenged until the checkered flag. Peroni ended fourth ahead of Daruvala, Liam Lawson, Sebastian Fernandez, David Beckmann, Robert Shwartzman and Richard Verschoor.

There was a one hour break before the pitlane re-opened for the afternoon running. Pedro Piquet was the first man to feed onto the track, but it was his teammate Niko Kari who set the early pace before stopping 30 minutes into the session and bringing out a red flag.

The teams dedicated the rest of the day to long runs during which Lirim Zendeli went quickest in a 1:33.703. Forty minutes before the checkered flag, the rain started to fall on some parts of the track sending the cars back to the pits to assess the conditions and switch to wet tires.

As the session drew to a close, the rain fell even harder. At the checkered flag, the standings remained unchanged with Zendeli heading Piquet, Kari, Yuki Tsunoda, Felipe Drugovich, Jake Hughes, Bent Viscaal, Logan Sargeant, Fernandez and Fabio Scherer.

The Formula 3 paddock will now to head to Budapest where the final two-day pre-season testing will take place at the Hungaroring on April 17-18.

FIA Formula 3 Barcelona Test – Day 2 Morning Session

Pos	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix	1:32.222	48
2	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	1:32.369	40
3	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix	1:32.429	42
4	Alexander Peroni	Campos Racing	1:32.460	20
5	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing	1:32.507	33
6	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport	1:32.621	35
7	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing	1:32.627	33
8	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix	1:32.642	38
9	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing	1:32.712	33
10	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1:32.722	32
11	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport	1:32.881	32
12	JÃ¼ri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	1:32.901	41
13	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing	1:32.907	33
14	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:33.111	45
15	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:33.226	36
16	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix	1:33.255	42
17	Pedro Piquet	Trident	1:33.286	37
18	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB	1:33.296	33
19	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:33.319	46
20	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:33.500	43
21	Artem Petrov	Jenzer Motorsport	1:33.523	35
22	Niko Kari	Trident	1:33.533	20
23	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:33.692	45
24	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:33.722	30
25	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB	1:34.211	36
26	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident	1:34.229	30
27	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport	1:34.323	41
28	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB	1:34.732	15
29	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing	1:35.009	26
30	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:36.712	6

FIA Formula 3 Barcelona Test – Day 2 Afternoon Session

Pos	DRIVER	TEAM	LAPTIME	LAPS
1	Lirim Zendeli	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:33.703	32
2	Pedro Piquet	Trident	1:33.827	44
3	Niko Kari	Trident	1:33.983	32
4	Yuki Tsunoda	Jenzer Motorsport	1:33.985	34
5	Felipe Drugovich	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:34.085	49
6	Jake Hughes	HWA RACELAB	1:34.106	22
7	Bent Viscaal	HWA RACELAB	1:34.108	32
8	Logan Sargeant	Carlin Buzz Racing	1:34.114	44
9	Sebastian Fernandez	Campos Racing	1:34.297	32
10	Fabio Scherer	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:34.558	44
11	Artem Petrov	Jenzer Motorsport	1:34.650	34
12	Alexander Peroni	Campos Racing	1:34.662	36
13	Devlin DeFrancesco	Trident	1:34.707	30
14	Keyvan Andres	HWA RACELAB	1:34.756	33
15	Raoul Hyman	Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	1:35.096	56
16	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	1:35.135	43
17	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1:35.235	38
18	Andreas Estner	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.236	41
19	Simo Laaksonen	MP Motorsport	1:35.457	39
20	Max Fewtrell	ART Grand Prix	1:35.626	42
21	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing	1:35.712	47
22	JÃ¼ri Vips	Hitech Grand Prix	1:35.767	38
23	Liam Lawson	MP Motorsport	1:35.893	43
24	Jehan Daruvala	PREMA Racing	1:35.940	37
25	Marcus Armstrong	PREMA Racing	1:35.959	37
26	David Beckmann	ART Grand Prix	1:36.001	31
27	Leonardo Pulcini	Hitech Grand Prix	1:36.032	37
28	Ye Yifei	Hitech Grand Prix	1:36.231	34
29	Alessio Deledda	Campos Racing	1:36.385	33
30	Teppei Natori	Carlin Buzz Racing	—	0