Mercedes junior Russell tops Day 1 of GP3 testing
George Russell kicked off his rookie GP3 campaign by setting the pace in the first pre-season test day at Estoril on Wednesday.
Photo by: GP3 Series Media Service
Russell, who became affiliated with Mercedes during the off-season, set a time of 1m27.606s in the afternoon session.
The majority of the morning running was hit by rainy, windy weather conditions, and only a single lap was completed on slicks, by Raoul Hyman, who ended up first by over five seconds as a result.
In the afternoon, the field immediately lowered the benchmark set by Hyman - who is testing with Campos but isn't confirmed by the team yet - with ART's Nirei Fukuzumi, Italians Leonardo Pulcini and Alessio Lorandi, as well as Arjun Maini all leading at one point.
In the end, it was Russell taking the lead, narrowly edging out his teammate Fukuzumi.
Hyman completed a strong day in third, less than a tenth behind Russell.
The rest of the field, led by a third ART car of Anthoine Hubert, was a further four tenths down.
Maini, who will kick off his first full-time GP3 season, was fifth, followed by Ferrari junior Giuliano Alesi and Dorian Boccolacci.
The latter and Ryan Tveter, both yet to be confirmed to race in GP3 this year, drove the two free cars of Trident during the day.
Renault's Jack Aitken brought a fourth ART into the top eight ahead of Red Bull and Haas proteges Niko Kari and Santino Ferrucci.
Day 1 results
Pos. | Driver | Team | Morning | Afternoon |
1 | George Russell | ART Grand Prix | 1:39.217 | 1:27.606 |
2 | Nirei Fukuzumi | ART Grand Prix | 1:39.648 | 1:27.685 |
3 | Raoul Hyman | Campos Racing | 1:31.539 | 1:27.705 |
4 | Anthoine Hubert | ART Grand Prix | 1:39.681 | 1:28.113 |
5 | Arjun Maini | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:38.017 | 1:28.147 |
6 | Giuliano Alesi | Trident | 1:36.960 | 1:28.152 |
7 | Dorian Boccolacci | Trident | 1:38.602 | 1:28.185 |
8 | Jack Aitken | ART Grand Prix | 1:40.710 | 1:28.211 |
9 | Niko Kari | Arden International | 1:36.908 | 1:28.478 |
10 | Santino Ferrucci | DAMS | 1:36.930 | 1:28.489 |
11 | Leonardo Pulcini | Arden International | 1:37.127 | 1:28.602 |
12 | Steijn Schothorst | Arden International | 1:37.233 | 1:28.641 |
13 | Alessio Lorandi | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:37.948 | 1:28.781 |
14 | Kevin Jorg | Trident | 1:40.483 | 1:28.820 |
15 | Bruno Baptista | DAMS | 1:38.014 | 1:28.841 |
16 | Marcos Siebert | Campos Racing | 1:37.530 | 1:28.892 |
17 | Tatiana Calderon | DAMS | 1:38.633 | 1:29.084 |
18 | Julien Falchero | Campos Racing | 1:39.601 | 1:29.504 |
19 | Ryan Tveter | Trident | 1:37.764 | -- |
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