Formula 2

Mazepin tops disrupted Bahrain practice

1 Mins read
Credit: FIA Formula 2

Upon FIA Formula 2’s long awaited return to the race track, it was Nikita Mazepin who ended the session fastest following two red flags and a late sprinkling of rain in the Bahrain desert.

The Russian set his table-topping time just as the rain began to hit with roughly ten minutes to go before the chequered flag fell to set the perfect precedent as he tries to keep himself in the title hunt.

He is chasing down championship leader Mick Schumacher who holds a healthy advantage over second place Callum Ilott and the rest of the grid but he knows it’s far from over with four races still to go.

Schumacher was tenth fastest in practice with Ilott down in fourteenth. Yuki Tsunoda is another of the challengers who was third fastest behind his Carlin teammate Jehan Daruvala.

Schumacher’s PREMA teammate Robert Shwartzman was seventh fastest and Christian Lundgaard fifth behind DAMS’ Dan Ticktum.

The two red flags that truncated most of the session saw both Artem Markelov and Marino Sato complete almost exactly the same spin at the final corner where they both failed to keep their car running. Both cars were parked on the exit kerb and had to be retrieved by the marshalls.

Mazepin’s Hitech GP teammate Luca Ghiotto was sixth fastest with Guanyu Zhou eighth and Felipe Drugovich ninth.

Pos.NameTeamLap Time
1Nikita MazepinHitech GP1:42:660
2Jehan DaruvalaCarlin1:42:782
3Yuki TsunodaCarlin1:42:918
4Dan TicktumDAMS1:42:965
5Christian LundgaardART1:43:064
6Luca GhiottoHitech GP1:43:079
7Robert ShwartzmanPREMA1:43:100
8Guanyu ZhouUNI-Virtuosi1:43:128
9Felipe DrugovichMP Motorsport1:43:142
10Mick SchumacherPREMA1:43:172
11Marcus ArmstrongART1:43:201
12Pedro PiquetCharouz1:43:270
13Louis DelétrazCharouz1:43:490
14Callum IlottUNI-Virtuosi1:43:491
15Guiliano AlesiMP Motorsport1:43:835
16Jack AitkenCampos1:44:009
17Théo PourchaireHWA Racelab1:44:420
18Roy NissanyTrident1:44:915
19Guilherme SamaiaCampos1:45:246
20Sean GelaelDAMS2:00:250
21Marino SatoTridentNO TIME
22Artem MarkelovHWA RacelabNO TIME
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If it's got an engine, I've watched it race. F2 and F3 correspondent with a sprinkling of speedway here and there.
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