Barcelona F3: Prema’s Hauger tops first practice of 2021

The Red Bull junior, who joined the reigning champions from Hitech Grand Prix for 2021, led the field with a time of 1m33.596 on Friday morning at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

He was followed by rookie Victor Martins, one of the two Alpine Academy members driving for MP Motorsport, who set a time of 1m33.811, and ART GP’s Frederik Vesti, who has joined the Mercedes academy, with a 1m33.871.

Hauger’s teammate Arthur Leclerc, a Ferrari Driver Academy member and younger brother of Formula 1 driver Charles, came fourth with a 1m33.923.

ART GP’s Alexander Smolyar finished off the top five, with the Russian driver, who is returning for a second year in F3, setting a time of 1m33.934.

Just 12 minutes into the season opener, the practice session was red-flagged after Carlin’s Jonny Edgar encountered issues, briefly stopping on the track before managing to get the car going again and heading back to the pits.

It was restarted a few minutes later, with Carlin’s Ido Cohen setting a 1m35.163 to kick off the timed laps, before nine other drivers set times in quick succession.

Prema led the pack in a 1-2-3 halfway through the session, but the trio were quickly caught by Martins and Vesti – both tipped as early favourites for the drivers’ championship title.

Highest-placed returning driver Logan Sargeant, who has switched from Prema to Charouz Racing System for this season, came seventh, with a time of 1m34.129.

Juan Manuel Correa, returning to the sport 18 months after surviving a tragic multiple car Formula 2 crash at Spa in 2019 that claimed the life of Anthoine Hubert, set a quickest time of 1m35.102, placing him 23rd.

Following the session, ART Grand Prix was fined €500 for an unsafe release of Smolyar, and Charouz driver Enzo Fittipaldi was fined €700 for speeding in the pit lane.

This afternoon’s qualifying will set the grid for Sunday’s race, while tomorrow’s first race will be decided by reversing the top 12.

The top 12 of that race will be reversed for the second race on Saturday afternoon.

Practice results: