ART Grand Prix's George Russell topped the timesheets on the first day of GP3 Series pre-season testing at the Circuito do Estoril in Portugal on Wednesday.
The Briton set his fastest lap during the afternoon session, stopping the clock at 1:27.606, less than a tenth ahead of team-mate Nirei Fukuzumi and Campos racer Raoul Hyman in third.
Hyman led the morning session which was run under wet conditions, posting a 1:31.539, which was an astonishing five seconds quicker than anybody else as he gambled with a late-slick run prior to lunch as the track was at its driest.
With the sun beaming during the lunch break, a dry track saw a flood of cars exit their pits and begin setting competitive lap times, with Fukuzumi setting the early pace, before Leonardo Pulcini took over the lead after around an hour when the red flag was shown for Russell, who stopped at Turn 2.
At the restart the session was very busy, with the teams and the drivers getting to grips with the newly added DRS device: Alessio Lorandi claimed the top spot before Arjun Maini pipped him with one hour left on the clock. Fukuzumi was the first man to dip under 1m28s, but so did Russell who lapped the circuit 0.079s faster than the Japanese ace.
At the chequered flag, Russell led Fukuzumi and Hyman, with ART's Anthoine Hubert ahead of Jenzer's Arjun Maini and the Trident pair of Giuliano Alesi and Dorian Boccolacci. Jack Aitken, Arden's Niko Kari and DAMS' Santino Ferrucci rounded out the top ten.
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