Freddie Slater was the fastest driver on the opening day of the Formula 3 mid-season test at Madring, a circuit located in Madrid, Spain, which will host Formula 1 for the first time in a few weeks. The Trident driver, who leads the championship, posted the fastest time in the day’s final session, crossing the line in 1:50.343.
The runner-up was Taito Kato, ART Grand Prix’s driver, who was edged by Slater by 0.073 seconds. Theophile Nael, piloting a Campos Racing car, finished third, followed by Ernesto Rivera, his teammate. The top five was completed by Alessandro Giusti of MP Motorsport.
Woo Hyun Shin, a South Korean driver for Hitech, closed the day with the sixth-best time, ahead of Tuukka Taponen, seventh for MP Motorsport. Jin Nakamura, Shin’s teammate at Hitech, posted the eighth-best mark, while Ugo Ugochukwu—fastest in the opening session—was ninth for Campos Racing. Hiyu Yamakoshi completed the top ten with Van Amersfoort Racing.
The Brazilians opted to focus on long-run stints and, with higher lap times, occupied more modest positions in the classification. Pedro Clerot finished 17th with a Rodin Motorsport car, while Fernando Barrichello ended up 29th in a car prepared by AIX Racing.
Formula 3 will complete another day of testing in Madring on Tuesday, and will move on to the penultimate round of the 2026 season from September 4-6 at the Monza Autodrome in Italy.
