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As the new season draws closer, the Formula 2 grid, made up of rookies and returning drivers, have had the chance to further their preparations ahead of the first round, which will incidentally take place at the Bahrain International Circuit.
A mix of old and new faces were out on track as the drivers and teams stepped up their preparations ahead of a brand new start and another exciting campaign.
2021 Formula 3 Champion, Dennis Hauger, alongside eight other F3 drivers have moved up to Formula 2 as they look to impress in their maiden campaigns in the category.
Liam Lawson, who moved from Hitech Grand Prix to Carlin, topped two of the five sessions during Testing as he looks to right the wrongs of last season with a new team.
Day One – Lawson sets early pace but Daruvala ends first day on top
The aforementioned Lawson was the quickest in the first session of the Bahrain test as he set a 1:44.522, four-tenths quicker than second-placed Felipe Drugovich and half a second faster than third-placed Logan Sargeant.
Jehan Daruvala re-joins Prema after a successful Formula 3 campaign back in 2019 and he was about a tenth slower than the Sargeant and set the fourth quickest time in the morning session.
2021 F3 runner-up Jack Doohan finished fifth, with Virtuosi teammate Marino Sato in sixth, Marcus Armstrong in seventh, Jake Hughes in eighth, Theo Pourchaire in ninth and Ralph Boschung in 10th – exactly a second slower than quickest man Lawson.
Clement Novalak and Enzo Fittipaldi, who finished the session in 11th and 12th respectively, were split by one-hundredth as they narrowly missed out on the top 10. 2021 F3 Champion, Dennis Hauger, has made the step up to Formula 2 with Prema and came 13th in the first session of the test, 1.2 seconds slower than Lawson.
Three other rookies in Frederik Vesti, Ayumu Iwasa and Olli Caldwell followed as they finished 14th, 15th and 16th. Roy Nissany was 17th, Richard Verschoor in 18th, Amaury Cordeel in 19th and Cem Bolukbasi in 20th.
Juri Vips and Calan Williams finished 21st and 22nd but could only muster up nine laps collectively as they experienced a tough opening session of the test.
The fastest time of the day and the afternoon session was set by Daruvala with a 1:42.074. Williams made amends for limited running in the morning by going second quickest as Hauger was third fastest and over five-tenths slower than his more experienced Prema teammate.
Carlin duo, Lawson and Sargeant, followed in fourth and fifth with Drugovich, Armstrong, Fittipaldi, Vips and Nissany rounding out the top 10.
Pourchaire was 11th and was over two seconds slower than Daruvala. Boschung was a few hundredths slower than the Frenchman as he finished the afternoon in 12th with Sato in 13th, Hughes in 14th, Iwasa in 15th, Caldwell in 16th, Vesti in 17th, Doohan in 18th, Novalak in 19th, Verschoor in 20th, Cordeel in 21st and Bolukbasi in 22nd.
Final Standings after Day One of Testing
1. Daruvala – 1:42.074, 2. Williams – 1:42.540 (+0.516), 3. Hauger – 1:42.602 (+0.528), 4. Lawson – 1:43.478 (+1.404), 5. Sargeant – 1:43.483 (+1.409), 6. Drugovich – 1:43.590 (+1.516), 7. Armstrong – 1:43.877 (+1.803), 8. Fittpaldi – 1:43.946 (+1.872) 9. Vips – 1:43.946 (+1.872), 10. Nissany – 1:44.003 (+1.929), 11. Pourchaire – 1:44.132 (+2.058), 12. Boschung – 1:44.156 (+2.082), 13. Sato – 1:44.212 (+2.138), 14. Hughes – 1:44.271 (+2.197), 15. Iwasa – 1:44.289 (+2.215), 16. Caldwell – 1:44.443 (+2.369), 17. Vesti – 1:44.457 (+2.383), 18. Doohan – 1:44.498 (+2.424), 19. Novalak – 1:44.539 (+2.465), 20. Verschoor – 1:44.778 (+2.704), 21. Cordeel – 1:45.644 (+3.570), 22. Bolukbasi – 1:47.425 (+5.351)
Day Two – Vips quickest in the morning but Lawson returns to the top in the afternoon
After a relatively mediocre day by his standards, Vips set the quickest time of the morning session on the second day with a 1:46.705. Once again, the second quickest driver, Verschoor in this instance, was half a second slower than the fastest time with third-placed Bolukbasi close to a second slower than Vips.
Fittipaldi followed in fourth, however, he was over two seconds slower as Hughes and Boschung battled for final top five spot with the former finishing fifth, two-thousandths ahead of the Campos driver in sixth. Four rookies rounded out the top 10 with Williams in seventh, Sargeant in eighth, Vesti in ninth and Hauger in 10th.
Lawson missed out on the top 10 by three-hundredths as he finished 11th with Drugovich in 12th and only four-thousandths slower than the New Zealander.
Sato followed in 13th, Daruvala in 14th, Armstrong in 15th, Pourchaire in 16th, Nissany in 17th, Doohan in 18th, Caldwell in 19th, Iwasa in 20th, Novalak in 21st and Cordeel close to four seconds slower than Vips in 22nd.
In the afternoon, it was Lawson back on top as the Carlin driver was the first and only driver to set a time in the 1:41’s with a 1:41.623.
Boschung and Pourchaire set the exact same lap time as they occupied second and third with Sargeant, Doohan, Sato, Vesti, Drugovich, Daruvala and Verschoor rounding out the top 10.
Van Amersfoort Racing duo Hughes and Cordeel finished the session in 11th and 12th as morning’s fastest man, Vips followed in 13th. Hauger was 14th, Bolukbasi in 15th, Fittipaldi in 16th, Novalak in 17th, Williams in 18th, Nissany in 19th, Iwasa in 20th, Caldwell in 21st and Armstrong in 22nd after only being able to complete two laps before encountering a problem.
Final Standings after Day Two of Testing
1. Lawson – 1:41.623, 2. Boschung – 1:42.096 (+0.473), 3. Pourchaire – 1:42.096 (+0.473), 4. Sargeant – 1:42.133 (+0.510), 5. Doohan – 1:42.144 (+0.521), 6. Sato – 1:42.174 (+0.551), 7. Vesti – 1:42.174 (+0.551), 8. Drugovich – 1:42.273 (+0.650), 9. Daruvala – 1:42.286 (+0.663), 10. Verschoor – 1:42.297 (+0.674), 11. Hughes – 1:42.483 (+0.860), 12. Cordeel – 1:42.562 (+0.939), 13. Vips – 1:42.565 (+0.942), 14. Hauger – 1:42.612 (+0.989), 15. Bolukbasi – 1:42.729 (+1.106), 16. Fittipaldi – 1:42.739 (+1.116), 17. Novalak – 1:42.991 (+1.368), 18. Williams – 1:43.000 (+1.377), 19. Nissany – 1:43.083 (+1.460), 20. Iwasa – 1:43.284 (+1.661), 21. Caldwell – 1:43.654 (+2.031), 22. Armstrong – 1:49.832 (+8.209)
Day Three – MP Motorsport duo come out on top as a sandstorm cancels the afternoon session
A sandstorm halted proceedings before they even got underway in the afternoon but MP Motorsport’s Drugovich and Novalak made the most of the morning by claiming first and second.
The former set a 1:44.911 which was half a second quicker than his teammate and over a second quicker than Vips in third.
Carlin’s Lawson and Sargeant followed in fourth and fifth with Nissany, Hauger, Pourchaire, Doohan and Iwasa rounding out the top 10.
Hughes finished the session in 11th, Vesti in 12th, Boschung in 13th, Cordeel in 14th, Daruvala in 15th, Sato in 16th, Williams in 17th, Caldwell in 18th, Verschoor in 19th, Fittipaldi in 20th, Bolukbasi in 21st and Armstrong in 22nd.
Final Standings after Day Three of Testing
1. Drugovich – 1:44.911, 2. Novalak – 1:45.883 (+0.472), 3. Vips – 1:45.978 (+1.067), 4. Lawson – 1:46.114 (+1.203), 5. Sargeant – 1:46.761 (+1.850), 6. Nissany – 1:46.791 (+1.880), 7. Hauger – 1:46.979 (+2.068), 8. Pourchaire – 1:47.235 (+2.324), 9. Doohan – 1:47.377 (+2.466), 10. Iwasa – 1:47.465 (+2.554), 11. Hughes – 1:47.488 (+2.587), 12. Vesti – 1:47.590 (+2.679), 13. Boschung – 1:47.800 (+2.889), 14. Cordeel – 1:47.944 (+3.033), 15. Daruvala – 1:47.992 (+3.081), 16. Sato – 1:48.346 (+3.435), 17. Williams – 1:48.456 (+3.545), 18. Caldwell – 1:48.805 (+3.894), 19. Verschoor – 1:48.807 (+3.896), 20. Fittipaldi – 1:49.084 – (+4.173), 21. Bolukbasi – 1:49.519 (+4.608), 22. Armstrong – 1:49.839 (+4.928)
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