F2: Lindblad leads F3 graduates to top Day 1 in Barcelona test

Arvid Lindblad ended up on top on Day 1 of FIA F2 test in Barcelona ahead of other F3 graduates Gabriele Mini and Leonardo Fornaroli.

MORNING

After a 45-minute delay due to fog, 2025 testing began with installation laps, but it was Red-Flagged in the opening minutes as Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne came to a halt at Turn 10. His car was quickly recovered and running resumed. The baseline setup tests continued deep into the morning with everyone completing short run plans without setting laptimes. That lasted half the session until Max Esterson broke the deadlock, quickly following up with a 1:29.252 to set the early benchmark.

His activity brought others out onto circuit, and Richard Verschoor was next to go quickest for MP Motorsport, recording a 1:27.340. Improvements continued to follow, as Roman Stanek lowered the time to beat to a 1:26.734 for Invicta Racing. Martins became the next driver to top the times for ART Grand Prix, the Frenchman putting a 1:26.303 in to lead with an hour remaining of the morning.

PREMA Racing duo Sebastián Montoya and Gabriele Minì recorded improvements to go third and first respectively. The Italian’s 1:26.227 put him 0.076s ahead of Martins in P2. MP’s Oliver Goethe managed to split the pair, going P2 and within 0.050s of the leading time as the clock ticked into the final 45 minutes.

Martins broke into the 1:25s with 15 minutes to go, moving back into P1 with a 1:25.790. Minì remained in second place ahead of Goethe, Montoya and Stanek in the top five. Dunne put his stoppage to one side quickly and finished the morning sixth, as Ritomo Miyata, Luke Browning, Lindblad and Josep Maria Martí followed from seventh to tenth respectively.

AFTERNOON

Running resumed in the afternoon and Verschoor put in the fastest time of the day with a 1:27.710 in the opening 20 minutes. A Red Flag arrived approaching half an hour run after Max Esterson found the gravel at Turn 5 in his #23 TRIDENT. With the American’s car recovered, the green light was back on and running resumed as plenty logged early laps.

Another Red Flag came with just over half the afternoon segment to go, as Dino Beganovic stopped in his Hitech TGR between Turns 6 and 7. His car was recovered to the pitlane and the session got back underway once more. Teams got on with their respective run plans as focus differed up and down the pitlane for much of the afternoon session.

Verschoor’s time remained quickest by nearly half a second, but Hitech TGR were back on track and Beganovic went P2, 0.479s down on the Dutch driver’s time. Teammate Browning settled into third, a further 0.069s adrift. PREMA emerged from the pitlane to go second and fourth with Minì and Montoya, the Italian putting in a 1:25.987 to wind up 0.277s off the top spot.

Into the final half an hour of the day and Campos Racing moved to the top of the times. Lindblad led teammate Martí with the former on a 1:24.415, 0.3s quicker than the Spaniard in second. The Red Flag came again with just over 15 minutes to go, this time for Sami Meguetounif, who’d come to a halt at Turn 2. With his car removed, everyone was eager to get back out for the final 10 minutes.

PREMA broke up the Campos 1-2 with Minì going second and Montoya third, the Italian just 0.088s off Lindblad’s earlier effort. Compatriot Leonardo Fornaroli lifted Invicta up to third with a 1:24.592 before a Red Flag brought the session to a premature end. Meguetounif found the gravel at Turn 4 with two minutes to go.

It prevented any further improvements leaving Lindblad top of the pile on Day 1 from Minì and Fornaroli. Montoya was fourth ahead of Martí and the Rodin duo of Dunne and Christian Mansell. Browning, Stanek and Verschoor completed the top 10.

[The story is as per press release]