Spanish Grand Prix race one winner Charles Leclerc has ended the opening day of the GP3 test in Austria fastest overall across both sessions for ART Grand Prix, following a productive day for the Monegasque racer.
During the morning period Leclerc ended proceedings just under a second ahead of team-mate Nick de Vries, with Alexander Albon creating an ART Grand Prix top three after ending the morning period third fastest.
Early pace setter Oscar Tunjo was fourth, despite causing a brief red flag delay early on after lightly tapping the barriers.
The DAMS of Jake Hughes finished fifth ahead of the fourth ART Grand Prix of Nirei Fukuzumi in sixth position.
Antonio Fuoco was next in seventh ahead of Jack Aitken, with Matthew Parry and Sandy Stuvik rounding out the top ten of what was a relatively incident-free and productive morning for the GP3 fraternity around the Red Bull Ring circuit.
In the afternoon session Fuoco managed to pip Leclerc to the top spot for Trident, albeit seven tenths slower than the Monegasque’s benchmark from the morning period.
Leclerc managed to finish a tenth ahead of ART Grand Prix team-mate de Vries in third, with Hughes improving to fourth for DAMS.
Parry was another driver who managed to improve throughout the afternoon period, ending the day fifth fastest ahead of ART Grand Prix duo Fukuzumi and Albon.
Richard Gonda managed to end the day within the top ten in eighth for Jenzer Motorsport, with Artur Janosz and Ralph Boschung rounding out the top ten.
Meanwhile two further red flag delays plagued proceedings in the afternoon period, with Steijn Schothorst stopping on the circuit after completing only two laps for Campos Racing.
Later in the session both Tatiana Calderon and Tunjo stopped on the circuit, creating a third and final red flag period.
The GP3 fraternity will return to the Red Bull Ring tomorrow for the second day of the test, as preparations continue ahead of the second round of the season next month at the Austrian circuit.
