Sakhir, 9 March 2021: Red Bull Junior driver and ace Indian star Jehan Daruvala of Carlin team finished in the top-two in the afternoon session clocking the second fastest time on the second day of the F2 test here on Tuesday. He put in a very useful 71 laps in both the sessions together to get mileage in the 2021 car.

ART Grand Prix’s Christian Lundgaard continued his strong start to pre-season testing, following up second place on Day 1 with the fastest time on Day 2. The Alpine junior set the quickest lap of the tests so far in the morning session, his time of 1:41.697 more than three tenths faster than Trident rookie Bent Viscaal in second.

MORNING

Lundgaard’s name was a familiar presence at the top of the timesheets in the morning as the ART ace kicked into gear and swiftly set the fastest of the opening laps. The Dane’s time of 1:43.514 was just the start as he later cemented his position in P1 with the only sub-1m 42s lap of the morning.

There was a brief stoppage between those two laps as Alessio Deledda was forced to pull over at the final corner with mechanical issues. When things got back underway, Théo Pourchaire managed to climb as high as third, before falling to seventh as he begun a programme of long runs.

Fellow rookie Viscaal managed one better than his former Formula 3 rival, sneaking into second behind Lundgaard towards the midway point of the session. The Dutchman is desperate to impress those at Trident, in the hope of extending his current one-round deal at the Italian side, and did his chances no harm with a solid stint, lapping at 1:42.697.

Marcus Armstrong was looking more at home with DAMS on the second morning, bettering his P9 finish on Monday morning by breaking into the top three, just one hundredth off the marker for P2. The Kiwi’s Ferrari junior rival Robert Shwarztman was in and amongst it himself, breaking into the top five for the first time this pre-season.

Two of Red Bull’s hopes for the 2021 season, Liam Lawson and Jüri Vips, both made the top 10 with Hitech Grand Prix, sandwiching Shwarztman in fourth and sixth. Roy Nissany, Oscar Piastri and Marino Sato completed the top 10 as the drivers headed in for lunch.

AFTERNOON

With a number of teams getting in a qualifying simulation during the morning session, attention was focused on longer-runs and data gathering in the afternoon. Just 13 cars headed out when the lights went green, with Guilherme Samaia running the fastest of these.

A red flag disrupted the running after Gianluca Petecof stopped at Turn 13, before action resumed and the remainder of the field headed out for a taste of the track. Times were still well below the morning, as Richard Verschoor set the standard at 1:45.018. The Dutchman did manage to improve with a lap of 1:44.051, before dropping down to seventh.

There were two further red flags during the afternoon, with Lawson and Guanyu Zhou both stopping on track. Both managed to get back out there, with Zhou recovering to finish third.

A flurry of final laps when saw Dan Ticktum take control of the timesheet, breaking the 1m 44s barrier to go first. His Carlin teammate Jehan Daruvala followed suit, but couldn’t quite match the Briton’s effort, missing out on by just 0.003s.

Samaia found the time for a late lap to take him as high as fourth, ahead of Felipe Drugovich and Ralph Boschung. Petecof recovered from his earlier struggles to break into the top 10 and finish the afternoon in eighth, despite lapping just 10 times. Day 1’s top driver, David Beckmann finished ninth, as Bent Viscaal completed the top 10.

We’ll be back for Day 3 on Wednesday at 9am (local time).

2021 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP - PRE-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, MORNING SESSION

DRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS1Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix1:41.697392Bent ViscaalTrident1:42.028283Marcus ArmstrongDAMS1:42.038264Liam LawsonHitech Grand Prix1:42.256285Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing1:42.257276Jüri VipsHitech Grand Prix1:42.299227Théo PourchaireART Grand Prix1:42.347428Roy NissanyDAMS1:42.419319Oscar PiastriPREMA Racing1:42.4623210Marino SatoTrident1:42.9972711Dan TicktumCarlin1:43.1583512Ralph BoschungCampos Racing1:43.2064013Jehan DaruvalaCarlin1:43.6163514David BeckmannCharouz Racing System1:43.9544815Guanyu ZhouUNI-Virtuosi1:43.9973816Lirim ZendeliMP Motorsport1:44.3463117Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport1:44.4853118Guilherme SamaiaCharouz Racing System1:44.5755019Gianluca PetecofCampos Racing1:45.4193320Felipe DrugovichUNI-Virtuosi1:45.8654621Matteo NanniniHWA RACELAB1:45.8652022Alessio DeleddaHWA RACELAB1:46.41313

2021 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP - PRE-SEASON TESTS, DAY 2, AFTERNOON SESSION

DRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS1Dan TicktumCarlin1:42.185362Jehan DaruvalaCarlin1:42.619363Guanyu ZhouUNI-Virtuosi1:43.114304Guilherme SamaiaCharouz Racing System1:43.129405Felipe DrugovichUNI-Virtuosi1:43.194346Ralph BoschungCampos Racing1:44.320257Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport1:44.335208Gianluca PetecofCampos Racing1:44.569109David BeckmannCharouz Racing System1:44.6401910Bent ViscaalTrident1:44.8794211Lirim ZendeliMP Motorsport1:45.0522112Christian LundgaardART Grand Prix1:46.9134513Théo PourchaireART Grand Prix1:47.4294714Jüri VipsHitech Grand Prix1:47.4974715Robert ShwartzmanPREMA Racing1:47.6143316Marcus ArmstrongDAMS1:47.9004417Alessio DeleddaHWA RACELAB1:47.9043018Liam LawsonHitech Grand Prix1:48.8143919Roy NissanyDAMS1:48.9744220Marino SatoTrident1:49.5013021Oscar PiastriPREMA Racing1:49.8243222Matteo NanniniHWA RACELAB1:50.44518