Our F3 squad head back to Barcelona this week for Round 5 of the series (21-23 June) and what is also the 100th Race in the Championship’s history.
The teams were last here just a couple of months ago when the series conducted three days of early season testing at the Circuit de Catalunya in late April.
Things are tight at the top of the drivers’ table, with Luke Browning just four points adrift of the current championship leader. In the four weeks since Monaco, he and team-mates Martinius Stenshorne and Cian Shields have been hard at work with the engineers and in Hitech’s simulator to prepare for this race. Monaco, with its own special idiosyncrasies, provided less of a barometer of progress since testing, whereas the next race in Spain will enable a direct comparison between the two sets of data.
In the teams’ standings, Hitech GP are one of only two teams to win more than one race so far this season. We’ll be looking to eat into that margin of the four teams currently ahead on the points table as the season reaches its mid-point.
Barcelona is dominated by long and medium-to-high speed corners which places the emphasis on tyre management – it’s all about keeping something in reserve for the late stages of the race. Aero balance is also key for the sweeping turns.
Pirelli have allocated the Hard compound tyre for the Barcelona race weekend. The white-walled tyres will be in action for the second time this year after they last appeared at the season-opener in Sakhir.
Friday 21 June
09.55 Free Practice
15.00 Qualifying
Saturday 22 June
10.40 Sprint Race (21 laps)
Sunday 23 June
10.05 Feature Race (25 laps)
All times local
