Algarve European Formula 3 test: Ferrari protege Lance Stroll leads
Ferrari protege Lance Stroll topped both sessions on the first of two days of testing at the Algarve circuit ahead of this weekend's Formula 3 European Championship
The 16-year-old Canadian - who took his maiden overall podium last time out at the Red Bull Ring - pipped Markus Pommer by just 0.014 seconds in the morning, before the track was changed for the afternoon session due to excessive track-limits abuse.
Instead of using the fast right-hander at Turn 1, competitors went through a tight chicane, raising laptimes by around five seconds.
Title contender Felix Rosenqvist was quickest going into the closing minutes, before the sister Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes of Stroll went to the top of the times, finishing 0.032s clear of the Swede.
Pommer was again quick in his Motopark Dallara-Volkswagen, the German taking third-fastest time and leading no fewer than six competitors within the same tenth.
Breathing down Pommer's neck were Prema runner Jake Dennis, championship leader Antonio Giovinazzi (Carlin Dallara-Volkswagen), Charles Leclerc (Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-VW), Carlin's George Russell and the Mercedes-powered West-Tec machine of Raoul Hyman.
VAR drivers Arjun Maini and Alessio Lorandi were third and fourth respectively in the morning, while Red Bull junior Callum Ilott was fifth in his Carlin car and was also in the top 10 on the longer configuration.
Julio Moreno made a big step forward to take ninth in the afternoon in his T-Sport Dallara-NBE, while much interest focused on the return of two ex-T-Sport drivers: Nick Cassidy and Alexander Sims.
Cassidy, called up by Prema for the next two rounds, was 10th in the morning and 13th in the afternoon, while Sims, representing the new Hitech Grand Prix team, was 13th in the morning and 17th in the afternoon.
Three of the regulars were missing. Fabian Schiller has parted company with Team West-Tec due to disappointing results; Double R Racing's Nicolas Pohler is still out in the wake of his cycling injury; while Kang Ling was not present in his Mucke Motorsport car.
MORNING TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.484s | - | 43 |
| 2 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.498s | 0.014s | 39 |
| 3 | Arjun Maini | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.631s | 0.147s | 50 |
| 4 | Alessio Lorandi | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.767s | 0.283s | 57 |
| 5 | Callum Ilott | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.791s | 0.307s | 45 |
| 6 | George Russell | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.933s | 0.449s | 46 |
| 7 | Felix Rosenqvist | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.934s | 0.450s | 46 |
| 8 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.958s | 0.474s | 32 |
| 9 | Mikkel Jensen | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.981s | 0.497s | 37 |
| 10 | Nick Cassidy | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.004s | 0.520s | 42 |
| 11 | Sam MacLeod | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.048s | 0.564s | 45 |
| 12 | Charles Leclerc | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.066s | 0.582s | 57 |
| 13 | Alexander Sims | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.119s | 0.635s | 37 |
| 14 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.152s | 0.668s | 31 |
| 15 | Matt Solomon | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.262s | 0.778s | 52 |
| 16 | Maximilian Guenther | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.305s | 0.821s | 41 |
| 17 | Alexander Albon | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.306s | 0.822s | 39 |
| 18 | Raoul Hyman | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.359s | 0.875s | 48 |
| 19 | Michele Beretta | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.404s | 0.920s | 43 |
| 20 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.412s | 0.928s | 52 |
| 21 | Jake Dennis | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.454s | 0.970s | 34 |
| 22 | Ryan Tveter | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.554s | 1.070s | 46 |
| 23 | Santino Ferrucci | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.672s | 1.188s | 36 |
| 24 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.698s | 1.214s | 28 |
| 25 | Gustavo Menezes | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.714s | 1.230s | 35 |
| 26 | Julio Moreno | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m39.848s | 1.364s | 48 |
| 27 | Tatiana Calderon | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m39.939s | 1.455s | 36 |
| 28 | Zhi Cong Li | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m40.048s | 1.564s | 34 |
| 29 | Dorian Boccolacci | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m40.170s | 1.686s | 45 |
| 30 | Andy Chang | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m40.231s | 1.747s | 43 |
| 31 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m40.273s | 1.789s | 51 |
| 32 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m41.796s | 3.312s | 14 |
AFTERNOON TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lance Stroll | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.305s | - | 44 |
| 2 | Felix Rosenqvist | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.337s | 0.032s | 45 |
| 3 | Markus Pommer | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.516s | 0.211s | 33 |
| 4 | Jake Dennis | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.544s | 0.239s | 43 |
| 5 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.559s | 0.254s | 26 |
| 6 | Charles Leclerc | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.560s | 0.255s | 43 |
| 7 | George Russell | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.580s | 0.275s | 30 |
| 8 | Raoul Hyman | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.586s | 0.281s | 42 |
| 9 | Julio Moreno | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m43.633s | 0.328s | 36 |
| 10 | Callum Ilott | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.644s | 0.339s | 28 |
| 11 | Mikkel Jensen | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.710s | 0.405s | 33 |
| 12 | Alessio Lorandi | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.711s | 0.406s | 40 |
| 13 | Nick Cassidy | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.783s | 0.478s | 30 |
| 14 | Maximilian Guenther | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m43.831s | 0.526s | 33 |
| 15 | Alexander Albon | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.866s | 0.561s | 37 |
| 16 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m43.982s | 0.677s | 35 |
| 17 | Alexander Sims | Hitech GP | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m44.013s | 0.708s | 28 |
| 18 | Sergio Sette Camara | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m44.059s | 0.754s | 31 |
| 19 | Tatiana Calderon | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m44.106s | 0.801s | 26 |
| 20 | Santino Ferrucci | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m44.134s | 0.829s | 32 |
| 21 | Gustavo Menezes | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m44.156s | 0.851s | 23 |
| 22 | Ryan Tveter | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m44.186s | 0.881s | 38 |
| 23 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m44.319s | 1.014s | 29 |
| 24 | Dorian Boccolacci | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m44.417s | 1.112s | 33 |
| 25 | Michele Beretta | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m44.481s | 1.176s | 31 |
| 26 | Matt Solomon | Double R Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m44.519s | 1.214s | 17 |
| 27 | Arjun Maini | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m44.541s | 1.236s | 40 |
| 28 | Matt Rao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m44.653s | 1.348s | 29 |
| 29 | Andy Chang | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m44.809s | 1.504s | 24 |
| 30 | Zhi Cong Li | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m44.936s | 1.631s | 29 |
| 31 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m46.480s | 3.175s | 28 |
| 32 | Sam MacLeod | Motopark | Dallara/Volkswagen | - | - | 2 |
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