F3 Barcelona Testing: De Palo tops opening morning for MP Motorsport

Matteo De Palo set the fastest time on the opening morning of Formula 3 post-season testing in Barcelona, leading Alessandro Giusti and Ernesto Rivera before a late red flag ended running.

The MP Motorsport driver’s 1:28.516 secured first place by 0.269 seconds over Rodin Motorsport’s Giusti. Campos Racing’s Rivera finished third, another 0.052 seconds behind.

The session opened the final two-day test of the year, following last week’s running in Jerez.

Patient start gives way to faster laps

Sunshine greeted the field at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but teams initially prioritised systems checks and exploratory running over outright speed.

Rashid Al Dhaheri established the early benchmark for Van Amersfoort Racing with a 1:30.471. Competitive timed laps remained scarce as the first hour approached its conclusion.

AIX Racing then moved forward. Gabriel Gomez lowered the leading time to 1:30.048, with teammate Dion Gowda briefly completing a one-two approximately three tenths behind.

The order changed more frequently as running intensified. Giusti put Rodin on top with a 1:29.394, while De Palo emerged as his nearest challenger.

De Palo delivers the decisive improvement

Rivera subsequently claimed first place with a 1:28.911, setting the fastest time through all three sectors on that lap.

Enzo Deligny moved VAR into second during that phase, before De Palo produced the morning’s eventual benchmark.

Giusti improved to 1:28.785, securing second, while Rivera also found more time to finish on 1:28.837. Deligny and ART Grand Prix’s Taito Kato completed the leading five.

Morning-session top five:

• 1. Matteo De Palo: 1:28.516
• 2. Alessandro Giusti: 1:28.785
• 3. Ernesto Rivera: 1:28.837
• 4. Enzo Deligny: 1:29.095
• 5. Taito Kato: 1:29.167

Seewooruthun stoppage brings early finish

Reza Seewooruthun stopped on track with only a few minutes remaining, triggering a red flag. The session did not restart.

The Rodin driver subsequently had all his lap times deleted because his car lacked sufficient fuel for the post-session technical checks.

That left De Palo firmly at the head of the morning classification, with MP Motorsport taking the opening honours before the afternoon programme.

Running was scheduled to resume at 15:00 local time. Follow our Barcelona testing guide and live-timing coverage for the remaining sessions.