Roundup of the first in-season test of the 2022 F3 season at Circuito de Jerez, Spain as PREMA dominated both days of running.
Having endured just one pre-season test ahead of the season-opener in Bahrain last month, F3 decided to hold two in-season tests within the next fortnight starting with a trip to Jerez.
Following four difficult sessions across two days, PREMA and Arthur Leclerc emerged quickest after the entire field overcame unpredictable weather conditions across both days of running.
Now here is a roundup of all the action across both days of testing.
Day One
Teams were greeted by wet and windy conditions when the light went green to commence the day’s running with several drivers initially completing installation laps.
Once the rain began to ease, Hitech GP’s Isack Hadjar set the initial benchmark of 1m 46.213 before eventually lowering his benchmark lap to 1m 42.047, only to then cause the only red flag of the morning session as he spun off.
Leclerc eventually finished fastest in the morning session with 1m 40.202 which was 0.529 seconds faster than Trident’s Roman Stanek, who finished second quickest as Van Amersfoort Racing’s (VAR) Franco Colapinto rounded out the top three.
Further rainfall fell during the lunchbreak but conditions eventually began to ease as Caio Collet set the initial afternoon pace, until he grinded to a halt to cause the second red flag of the day.
Track conditions eventually began to hit dry tyre territory in the closing minutes as Oliver Bearman topped the afternoon session and opening day overall, as the Brit posted 1m 33.009 which was 0.657s quicker than Campos’ Pepe Marti with Trident’s Zane Maloney 0.070s further back in third.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Session |
| 1 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | 1m 33.009 | PM |
| 2 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 0.657 | PM |
| 3 | Zane Maloney | Trident | + 0.727 | PM |
| 4 | Victor Martins | Art GP | + 0.742 | PM |
| 5 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | + 0.989 | PM |
| 6 | Juan Manuel Correa | Art GP | + 1.113 | PM |
| 7 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | + 1.194 | PM |
| 8 | Oliver Rasmussen | Trident | + 1.485 | PM |
| 9 | Gregoire Saucy | Art GP | + 1.674 | PM |
| 10 | David Vidales | Campos | + 1.892 | PM |
| 11 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | + 1.904 | PM |
| 12 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | + 2.203 | PM |
| 13 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | + 2.988 | PM |
| 14 | Ayrton Simmons | Charouz | + 4.370 | PM |
| 15 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | + 6.517 | PM |
| 16 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 6.767 | PM |
| 17 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | + 7.754 | AM |
| 18 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | + 8.108 | PM |
| 19 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | + 8.110 | AM |
| 20 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | + 8.364 | AM |
| 21 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | + 8.554 | PM |
| 22 | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | + 8.677 | PM |
| 23 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | + 8.770 | AM |
| 24 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | + 8.798 | AM |
| 25 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 8.932 | AM |
| 26 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer | + 9.002 | PM |
| 27 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | + 9.036 | AM |
| 28 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | + 9.727 | AM |
Day Two
As teams commenced the final day of their two-day test, track conditions remained damp with Marti setting the pace on wet-weather tyres, until conditions had dried enough for slick tyres with times quickly tumbling afterwards.
As the checkered flag fell on the morning session, Leclerc emerged quickest for the second morning running as he posted 1m 30.628 to go top by 0.007s from Zak O’Sullivan.
After the lunch break, drivers finally got to explore a completely dried out Jerez circuit with times tumbling further throughout the session, as Leclerc topped the third of four sessions after posting 1m 29.366 as all of the best lap times on the second day came in the afternoon session.
Victor Martins finished second quickest by just 0.014s with Hadjar, Franco Colapinto and Oliver Rasmussen rounding out the top five, as Rasmussen enjoyed a solid F3 return following Jonny Edgar’s withdrawal.
F3 will now head to Barcelona for their second and last in-season test across 15-16 April.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time | Session |
| 1 | Arthur Leclerc | PREMA | 1m 29.366 | PM |
| 2 | Victor Martins | Art GP | + 0.014 | PM |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | + 0.245 | PM |
| 4 | Franco Colapinto | VAR | + 0.248 | PM |
| 5 | Oliver Rasmussen | Trident | + 0.268 | PM |
| 6 | Kaylen Frederick | Hitech GP | + 0.354 | PM |
| 7 | Zane Maloney | Trident | + 0.433 | PM |
| 8 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 0.469 | PM |
| 9 | Gregoire Saucy | Art GP | + 0.476 | PM |
| 10 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 0.649 | PM |
| 11 | Zak O’Sullivan | Carlin | + 0.657 | PM |
| 12 | Jak Crawford | PREMA | + 0.779 | PM |
| 13 | David Vidales | Campos | + 0.791 | PM |
| 14 | Caio Collet | MP Motorsport | + 0.961 | PM |
| 15 | Reece Ushijima | VAR | + 0.983 | PM |
| 16 | Juan Manuel Correa | Art GP | + 1.035 | PM |
| 17 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 1.035 | PM |
| 18 | Nazim Azman | Hitech GP | + 1.090 | PM |
| 19 | Enzo Trulli | Carlin | + 1.116 | PM |
| 20 | Francesco Pizzi | Charouz | + 1.119 | PM |
| 21 | Alexander Smolyar | MP Motorsport | + 1.199 | PM |
| 22 | Ido Cohen | Jenzer | + 1.216 | PM |
| 23 | William Alatalo | Jenzer | + 1.293 | PM |
| 24 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.309 | PM |
| 25 | Hunter Yeany | Campos | + 1.327 | PM |
| 26 | Kush Maini | MP Motorsport | + 1.695 | PM |
| 27 | Federico Malvestiti | Jenzer | + 1.724 | PM |
| 28 | Ayrton Simmons | Charouz | + 1.854 | PM |
| 29 | Brad Benavides | Carlin | + 2.185 | PM |
| 30 | Laszlo Toth | Charouz | + 2.512 | PM |