Marcus Armstrong was the fastest driver in the morning and Ralph Boschung quickest in the afternoon session as Formula 2 ended pre-season testing ahead of the 2021 season.
Morning
The Aussie, Marcus Armstrong, was the quickest driver of the morning session. With a lap time of 1:42.173, he beat out rapid Kiwi Liam Lawson by nearly fifth-hundredths of a second.
We hit the one-hour mark of our final morning sesh ⏳
It’s a Kiwi 1-2 so far, with @MarcusArmstrng leading the way with 1:42.173, just ahead of @LiamLawson30 ?#F2 #F2Testing pic.twitter.com/XwNqQHI6ZQ
— Formula 2 (@FIA_F2) March 10, 2021
Lawson’s Hitech teammate, Juri Vips, finished the session in third marginally slower than the F2 rookie with the 19-year-old New Zealander sixth-thousandths ahead of his Estonian teammate.
Guanyu Zhou was one-hundredth slower than Vips with the Chinese driver finishing fourth, the second time he put his UNI-Virtuosi car into the top five.
Lirim Zendeli was three-thousandths slower than Zhou in fifth followed by Robert Shwartzman seven-hundredths slower in sixth.
Ralph Boschung, Richard Verschoor, Oscar Piastri and Felipe Drugovich rounded off the top 10 with the 10 fastest drivers of the session split by four-tenths of a second.
? TOP TEN (END OF MORNING SESSION) ?
Armstrong
Lawson
Vips (?)
Zhou
Zendeli
Shwartzman
Boschung
Verschoor
Piastri
Drugovich#F2 #F2Testing pic.twitter.com/FRzcspGSQZ— Formula 2 (@FIA_F2) March 10, 2021
David Beckmann missed out on the top 10 by two-hundredths as the Charouz driver finished 11th. Roy Nissany and Theo Pourchaire followed with the aforementioned trio split by only eight-thousandths.
The ART of Christian Lundgaard ended the morning in 14th nearly a tenth slower than Pourchaire in 13th. The two Trident’s came 15th and 16th with Bent Viscaal ahead of teammate Marino Sato.
Matteo Nannini came 17th with Gianluca Petecof in 18th and Guilherme Samaia in 19th. Carlin’s Dan Ticktum and Jehan Daruvala finished near the bottom in 20th and 21st and were only faster than Alessio Deledda with the HWA Racelab driver nearly one and a half seconds slower than Daruvala.
Afternoon
Boschung and Petecof completed a Campos one-two as the two drivers were the quickest in the afternoon session around the Bahrain International Circuit.
That’s a wrap for testing!
A late surge of lap times at the end sees @BoschungRalph end on top, with a 1:44.905 ⏱#F2 #F2Testing pic.twitter.com/LoBx7EMnZ9
— Formula 2 (@FIA_F2) March 10, 2021
The DAMS of Nissany ended the afternoon in third, over a second slower than Boschung and nearly six-tenths slower than Petecof.
Shwartzman was over a second slower than the Israelian driver in fourth with Zendeli in fifth and Prema teammate Piastri in sixth.
Lawson finished the afternoon in seventh, Pourchaire in eighth, Verschoor in ninth and Samaia rounded off the top 10.
? TOP TEN (END OF AFTERNOON SESSION) ?
Boschung
Petecof
Nissany
Shwartzman
Zendeli
Piastri
Lawson
Pourchaire (?)
Verschoor
Samaia#F2 #F2Testing pic.twitter.com/1geXMMQNbI— Formula 2 (@FIA_F2) March 10, 2021
The morning session’s quickest man, Armstrong, was only able to get his car up to 11th with Nannini behind the Aussie in 12th.
Carlin teammates Ticktum and Daruvala finished the afternoon in 13th and 14th ahead of Estonian Vips in 15th and UNI-Virtuosi driver Zhou in 16th.
Deledda got his car into 17th ahead of Lundgaard in 18th and Drugovich in 19th. The three slowest drivers were Viscaal in 20th, Sato in 21st and Beckmann in last place.
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