Ticktum tops times in Catalunya practice

Off the back of victory during the preceding Silverstone double-header, Dan Ticktum topped the sole FIA Formula 2 practice session at the Spanish Grand Prix.

The DAMS driver only just edged PREMA’s Mick Schumacher to the top spot by 0.009s in a super tight session that saw the top nineteen covered by one second.

Ticktum was one of the headlines during last week’s races after being more than vocal on the team radio regarding other drivers he was racing.

Schumacher will be keen to put the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix sprint race behind him after being the primary cause of a collision with his teammate Robert Shwartzman which cost the team both the win and a one-two finish.

The beneficiary of PREMA’s collision and F2’s most recent race winner Yuki Tsunoda was third fastest but he had issues getting his Carlin car off the line, twice having to be rescued by his team when he attempted a practice start.

Louis Delétraz was a star at Silverstone with some superb overtakes and he was fourth quickest as he continues to lead the Charouz charge in F2.

Championship leader Callum Ilott was quiet but still ended in fifth ahead of Artem Markelov who seemed to finally have some speed having spent most of 2020 at the back of the grid.

Luca Ghiotto is a long-standing F2 rival of Markelov’s and was close behind the Russian in seventh ahead of Marino Sato who brought out a brief red flag when his Trident slowed to a halt at turn four.

Felipe Drugovich continued to prove his rapid improvement from F3 to F2 with the ninth fastest time ahead of Shwartzman who needs a much better qualifying to re-ignite his championship challenge.