Christian Lundgaard ends inaugural F3 pre-season test on top

Christian Lundgaard
Christian Lundgaard

Renault Sport Academy driver Christian Lundgaard set the fastest laptime of the first FIA Formula 3 pre-season testing at the Circuit Paul Ricard in France. The Dane clocked in a time of 1:48.786 to top the two-day test session overall. In the afternoon, it was Yuki Tsunoda from Jenzer Motorsport who was quickest in a 1:49.301.

The pitlane opened at 9am local time on the second day of testing and under blue skies. The three ART cars rushed to the track, led by Max Fewtrell, but it was David Beckmann who quickly set the early pace. PREMA’s Jehan Daruvala dipped under 1m51s to go top ahead of Richard Verschoor and Lundgaard. The Dane improved further to claim the top spot in 1:50.410.

Fewtrell was the first driver to break the 1m50s barrier. His time was later bettered by Daruvala who lapped the track in a 1:49.445 as Leonardo Pulcini move up to P2 (+0.2s). Halfway through the session, Lundgaard brought out a first red flag after he stopped in the pit entry.

At the restart, Robert Shwartzman claimed the top spot in a 1:49.036 whilst Fewtrell set the second quickest laptime (+0.097s) just before a second stoppage after Sebastian Fernandez halted on the Mistral straight.

Pulcini was the first man to dip under 1m49s.Ten minutes before the checkered flag, Marcus Armstrong went quickest in a 1:48.800, but Lundgaard improved on the Kiwi’s time by one hundredth to end the morning session on top of the standings. Pulcini finished third ahead of Shwartzman, Ye Yifei, Verschoor, Fewtrell, Liam Lawson, Jake Hughes and Felipe Drugovich.

After the lunch break, Verschoor set the early pace in a 1:49.582. One hour into the session, the proceedings were halted after Tsunoda stopped at Turn 15. A second red flag period took place just before the two-hour mark after Verschoor stopped at Turn 2. At the restart, Hughes went fastest, but Niko Kari improved on the Briton’s time by two tenths to claim the top spot in a 1:49.372.

The running was halted a third time after Beckmann parked his car at Turn 2. The track was clear with thirty minutes left on the clock. In the dying stages, Tsunoda lapped the track in a 1:49.301 to claim the top honors ahead of Kari, Pedro Piquet, Hughes, Verschoor, Alexander Peroni, Pulcini, Bent Viscaal, Lawson and Fernandez.

This concluded a successful opening testing of the FIA Formula 3 Championship. Next stop: the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona on April 09-10 where the teams and the drivers will attend the second pre-season test session.

FIA Formula 3 Le Castellet Test – Day 2 Morning Session

Pos

Driver

Team

Time

Laps

1

Christian Lundgaard

ART Grand Prix

1:48.786

42

2

Marcus Armstrong

PREMA Racing

1:48.800

43

3

Leonardo Pulcini

Hitech Grand Prix

1:48.904

26

4

Robert Shwartzman

PREMA Racing

1:48.975

42

5

Ye Yifei

Hitech Grand Prix

1:48.997

39

6

Richard Verschoor

MP Motorsport

1:49.118

41

7

Max Fewtrell

ART Grand Prix

1:49.133

19

8

Liam Lawson

MP Motorsport

1:49.176

17

9

Jake Hughes

HWA RACELAB

1:49.206

43

10

Felipe Drugovich

Carlin Buzz Racing

1:49.240

26

11

Alexander Peroni

Campos Racing

1:49.251

28

12

Jehan Daruvala

PREMA Racing

1:49.254

19

13

David Beckmann

ART Grand Prix

1:49.339

30

14

Jüri Vips

Hitech Grand Prix

1:49.349

39

15

Pedro Piquet

Trident

1:49.428

47

16

Simo Laaksonen

MP Motorsport

1:49.479

16

17

Yuki Tsunoda

Jenzer Motorsport

1:49.528

25

18

Bent Viscaal

HWA RACELAB

1:49.606

27

19

Sebastian Fernandez

Campos Racing

1:49.623

21

20

Andreas Estner

Jenzer Motorsport

1:49.623

31

21

Raoul Hyman

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:49.654

17

22

Logan Sargeant

Carlin Buzz Racing

1:49.654

27

23

Artem Petrov

Jenzer Motorsport

1:49.660

32

24

Teppei Natori

Carlin Buzz Racing

1:49.880

24

25

Niko Kari

Trident

1:49.881

25

26

Fabio Scherer

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:50.179

27

27

Devlin DeFrancesco

Trident

1:50.453

23

28

Lirim Zendeli

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:50.633

10

29

Keyvan Andres

HWA RACELAB

1:50.773

18

30

Alessio Deledda

Campos Racing

1:51.091

20


FIA Formula 3 Le Castellet Test – Day 2 Afternoon Session

Pos

Driver

Team

Time

Laps

1

Yuki Tsunoda

Jenzer Motorsport

1:49.301

25

2

Niko Kari

Trident

1:49.372

35

3

Pedro Piquet

Trident

1:49.487

33

4

Jake Hughes

HWA RACELAB

1:49.572

35

5

Richard Verschoor

MP Motorsport

1:49.582

23

6

Alexander Peroni

Campos Racing

1:49.712

27

7

Leonardo Pulcini

Hitech Grand Prix

1:49.742

28

8

Bent Viscaal

HWA RACELAB

1:49.931

29

9

Liam Lawson

MP Motorsport

1:50.000

46

10

Sebastian Fernandez

Campos Racing

1:50.007

35

11

Felipe Drugovich

Carlin Buzz Racing

1:50.015

33

12

Devlin DeFrancesco

Trident

1:50.034

26

13

Lirim Zendeli

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:50.111

27

14

Jüri Vips

Hitech Grand Prix

1:50.121

24

15

Andreas Estner

Jenzer Motorsport

1:50.149

40

16

Fabio Scherer

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:50.156

35

17

Artem Petrov

Jenzer Motorsport

1:50.173

32

18

David Beckmann

ART Grand Prix

1:50.373

24

19

Logan Sargeant

Carlin Buzz Racing

1:50.428

31

20

Christian Lundgaard

ART Grand Prix

1:50.719

35

21

Teppei Natori

Carlin Buzz Racing

1:50.764

29

22

Max Fewtrell

ART Grand Prix

1:50.867

31

23

Raoul Hyman

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:50.886

26

24

Alessio Deledda

Campos Racing

1:50.914

19

25

Jehan Daruvala

PREMA Racing

1:51.013

39

26

Keyvan Andres

HWA RACELAB

1:51.410

31

27

Ye Yifei

Hitech Grand Prix

1:51.962

21

28

Marcus Armstrong

PREMA Racing

1:52.023

36

29

Robert Shwartzman

PREMA Racing

1:52.043

38

30

Simo Laaksonen

MP Motorsport

1:52.207

28