Indians Abroad

Arjun Maini sets 6th fastest time in the morning session: FIA Formula 2 pre-season test

Le Castellet (France): Indian racer Arjun Maini set the sixth fastest time in the morning session and ended up 11th in the afternoon at the Formula 2 first pre-season test on Tuesday. At the end of the first hour, new Trident recruit Maini led the proceedings ahead of team-mate Santino Ferrucci.
However, it was Lando Norris who set the day’s fastest lap. The Carlin driver set a 1:43.095 lap during the afternoon session to head the time sheets ahead of Nyck De Vries and teammate Sergio Sette Camara.
A damp, overcast Circuit Paul Ricard greeted the teams as they sought to clock in their customary installation laps at the start of the day. Oliver Rowland was the first driver to hit the track on wet weather tyres for the DAMS team, narrowly beating MP Motorsport’s Ralph Boschung out of the garage.
The first hour was punctuated with a few brief red flags following early spins, with Trident’s Santino Ferrucci and Sette Camara prompting stoppages as they got to grips with the wet track, while Louis Delétraz of Charouz Racing System came to a halt at the exit of the pitlane.

Norris was first to break the two-minute boundary at the midway point of the session, with the track slowly drying out. Soon, a number of cars were dipping into the 1m59s as they became accustomed to the conditions, although the circuit was not dry enough throughout the session for anyone to attempt a lap on slick tyres.

A red flag in the final half-hour of the session was called for Alexander Albon (DAMS) who stopped at turn 2 due to mechanical gremlins, as running got back underway with 10 minutes remaining. Although Boschung was quick on the draw at the restart to eat into Norris’ advantage, edging to within three-tenths of the leader, the British driver was able to put the first position well out of reach by going 0.6s quicker than his best time.

Norris was the only driver to break into the 1m56s, as his teammate Sette Camara slotted in behind Boschung for third. Albon was fourth quickest, ahead of Maini – who set a session high of 36 laps – and Arden’s Maximilian Günther. Roberto Merhi (MP Motorsport) was seventh ahead of Delétraz, while Antonio Fuoco (Charouz) and Ferrucci completed the top ten.
ART Grand Prix’s Jack Aitken kicked off proceedings after the break to make up for a lack of mileage across the morning’s session, bolting on a set of medium compound tyres after the circuit had dried. The Brit had the track to himself in the opening stages, before teammate George Russell and the Campos Vexatec Racing duo of Luca Ghiotto and Roy Nissany joined him.
After the first hour, PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing’s De Vries led the standings ahead of Russell, the pace decidedly faster than the morning’s benchmark. Norris then immediately stamped his authority on the time sheets and was joined by Sette Camara for a Carlin 1-2.
A brief red flag was called for Günther who suffered a spin and stopped on the track, but after the action returned Norris continued to whittle away at his best time, dropping below the 1m44s mark with a full house of fastest sectors.
Sean Gelael (PERTAMINA PREMA) wrested the second sector away from Norris, slotting in between the two Carlins as the session wound into the final hour. Ghiotto and de Vries briefly seized control of the timing boards, but with 20 minutes remaining, Norris once again reclaimed the fastest time. It proved to be unassailable, despite De Vries’ best efforts in the latter stages.
Sette Camara was third quickest, ahead of Ghiotto and Russell. Gelael finished the day sixth fastest, completing a session-best of 40 laps, while Aitken beat Nirei Fukuzumi (BWT Arden) to seventh. Günther and Rowland ended the session in the top ten. Over the day, 881 laps were for a cumulative total of 5000 km.
The action will resume tomorrow at 9 am for the second day of the test; the morning’s running ends at 12 pm, before the afternoon session takes place from 2 pm to 5 pm.
FIA Formula 2 Le Castellet Test – Day 1 Morning Session
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Lando Norris
Carlin
1:56.136
30
2
Ralph Boschung
MP Motorsport
1:57.037
27
3
Sergio Sette Camara
Carlin
1:57.289
22
4
Alexander Albon
DAMS
1:57.357
28
5
Arjun Maini
Trident
1:57.591
36
6
Maximilian Günther
BWT Arden
1:57.742
25
7
Roberto Merhi
MP Motorsport
1:58.358
20
8
Louis Delétraz
Charouz Racing System
1:58.619
19
9
Antonio Fuoco
Charouz Racing System
1:58.780
18
10
Santino Ferrucci
Trident
1:58.899
25
11
Nirei Fukuzumi
BWT Arden
1:59.759
17
12
Luca Ghiotto
Campos Vexatec Racing
2:00.067
20
13
Nyck De Vries
PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
2:00.088
11
14
Sean Gelael
PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
2:00.095
23
15
Tadasuke Makino
RUSSIAN TIME
2:03.229
8
16
Roy Nissany
Campos Vexatec Racing
2:03.983
15
17
George Russell
ART Grand Prix
2:04.282
8
18
Artem Markelov
RUSSIAN TIME
2:10.443
13
19
Oliver Rowland
DAMS
2:12.894
2
20
Jack Aitken
ART Grand Prix
FIA Formula 2 Le Castellet Test – Day 1 Afternoon Session
Driver
Team
Laptime
Laps
1
Lando Norris
Carlin
1:43.095
29
2
Nyck De Vries
PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
1:43.282
32
3
Sergio Sette Camara
Carlin
1:43.401
29
4
Luca Ghiotto
Campos Vexatec Racing
1:43.707
33
5
George Russell
ART Grand Prix
1:43.745
20
6
Sean Gelael
PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing
1:43.844
40
7
Jack Aitken
ART Grand Prix
1:44.115
34
8
Nirei Fukuzumi
BWT Arden
1:44.232
35
9
Maximilian Günther
BWT Arden
1:44.277
26
10
Oliver Rowland
DAMS
1:44.345
25
11
Arjun Maini
Trident
1:44.522
31
12
Ralph Boschung
MP Motorsport
1:44.603
28
13
Louis Delétraz
Charouz Racing System
1:44.807
11
14
Alexander Albon
DAMS
1:44.950
4
15
Santino Ferrucci
Trident
1:45.023
25
16
Roberto Merhi
MP Motorsport
1:45.086
29
17
Roy Nissany
Campos Vexatec Racing
1:46.166
36
18
Antonio Fuoco
Charouz Racing System
1:46.480
3
19
Tadasuke Makino
RUSSIAN TIME
1:47.050
11
20
Artem Markelov
RUSSIAN TIME
13

eom/david/F2 release

Tags
Show More
Back to top button
Close
Close