Albert Costa fastest in first Formula Renault 3.5 session in Barcelona finale

Costa's lap of 1m34.437s knocked Nathanael Berthon (ISR) off the top of the timing screens with six minutes of the hour-and-a-quarter session remaining.

In the wake of September's meeting in Le Castellet, budget concerns had placed Costa's participation in the Barcelona season final in doubt.

"It's good news, I'm still racing and I'm P1!" said Costa. "During these past two weeks, I have worked really hard in training and tried to forget everything else that has gone on this year.

"I don't have a personal trainer, but every day I was concentrating, no parties, no girls, doing everything for the last race of the championship. I am trying to win what may be the last two races of my life in formula cars. This is not the final result, but it's a good step for the start and I am confident."

Also on the hunt for his maiden FR3.5 victory, Walter Grubmuller enjoyed a strong run to claim second place for P1 Motorsport. The Austrian was 0.144s slower than Costa's fastest time.

Alexander Rossi recovered from a minor spin, which caused the session to be briefly red-flagged, to end the morning in third. The American held the quickest time with 17 minutes left on the clocks.

Rossi, Costa and Tech Racing's Kevin Korjus will be aiming to overhaul Daniel Ricciardo's third place in the drivers' standings. ISR's Ricciardo is unable to defend his position, as he is contesting this weekend's clashing Japanese Grand Prix with HRT.

Sole ISR runner Berthon took a solid fourth spot, just 0.203s off the pace. The Frenchman will be joined in time for qualifying at the Czech squad by GP3 regular Lewis Williamson, substituting for Ricciardo. Briton Williamson will sit out practice, as he is performing Red Bull Formula 1 simulator work in Milton Keynes.

The role is usually carried out by fellow Red Bull-supported racer Vergne, who has been left to focus on his championship battle with Wickens.

Canadian Wickens holds a two-point advantage in the standings, and finished just behind P1's Daniil Move in sixth place in the test. Vergne ended the morning 12th fastest.

Pos  Driver             Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Albert Costa       Epic             1m34.437s
 2.  Walter Grubmuller  P1               1m34.581s  + 0.144s
 3.  Alexander Rossi    Fortec           1m34.592s  + 0.155s
 4.  Nathanael Berthon  ISR              1m34.640s  + 0.203s
 5.  Daniil Move        P1               1m34.797s  + 0.360s
 6.  Robert Wickens     Carlin           1m34.862s  + 0.425s
 7.  Fairuz Fauzy       Mofaz            1m35.243s  + 0.806s
 8.  Sergio Canamasas   BVM Target       1m35.272s  + 0.835s
 9.  Nick Yelloly       Pons             1m35.360s  + 0.923s
10.  Oliver Webb        Pons             1m35.403s  + 0.966s
11.  Daniel Zampieri    BVM Target       1m35.432s  + 0.995s
12.  Jean-Eric Vergne   Carlin           1m35.433s  + 0.996s
13.  Jake Rosenzweig    Mofaz            1m35.484s  + 1.047s
14.  Stephane Richelmi  Draco            1m35.560s  + 1.123s
15.  Brendon Hartley    Gravity-Charouz  1m35.590s  + 1.153s
16.  Nelson Panciatici  KMP              1m35.626s  + 1.189s
17.  Jan Charouz        Gravity-Charouz  1m35.646s  + 1.209s
18.  Kevin Korjus       Tech 1           1m35.678s  + 1.241s
19.  Cesar Ramos        Fortec           1m35.738s  + 1.301s
20.  Daniel McKenzie    Comtec           1m35.942s  + 1.505s
21.  Anton Nebylitskiy  KMP              1m35.999s  + 1.562s
22.  Sten Pentus        Epic             1m36.433s  + 1.996s
23.  Adrien Tambay      Draco            1m36.447s  + 2.010s
24.  Arthur Pic         Tech 1           1m36.642s  + 2.205s
25.  Daniel de Jong     Comtec           1m36.645s  + 2.208s