The 2021 FIA Formula 2 season kicked off in Bahrain with Felipe Drugovich taking practice honours for new team UNI-Virtuosi.
The Brazilian’s lap time of 1:45:340 was enough to see him topple Carlin’s Dan Ticktum by just over a tenth as he started his season in the best possible fashion.
Drugovich is one of a host of drivers tipped for good things in 2021 with commentator Alex Brundle suggesting up to a dozen drivers could be in the title fight this year.
Ticktum is another many are backing for an assault on the Championship as is top rookie in practice Liam Lawson who continued his impressive pre-season pace to end the session third for Hitech GP.
Marcus Armstrong is looking to bounce back from a disappointing 2020 and he started as he means to go on finishing fourth ahead of title favourite Robert Shwartzman and MP Motorsport’s Lirim Zendeli.
A number of drivers were caught out at the heavy braking zones of turns one and nine with Oscar Piastri, David Beckmann and Zendeli himself all running off track due to front locking.
Piastri was still able to put a lap in good enough for tenth behind Juri Vips, Jehan Daruvala and Bent Viscaal in the Trident.
| Pos. | Name | Team | Lap Time |
| 1 | Felipe Drugovich | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:45:340 |
| 2 | Dan Ticktum | Carlin | 1:45:481 |
| 3 | Liam Lawson | Hitech GP | 1:45:628 |
| 4 | Marcus Armstrong | DAMS | 1:45:651 |
| 5 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA | 1:45:666 |
| 6 | Lirim Zendeli | MP Motorsport | 1:45:734 |
| 7 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 1:45:762 |
| 8 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:45:763 |
| 9 | Bent Viscaal | Trident | 1:45:838 |
| 10 | Oscar Piastri | PREMA | 1:46:077 |
| 11 | Théo Pourchaire | ART | 1:46:149 |
| 12 | Guanyu Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:46:195 |
| 13 | Christian Lundgaard | ART | 1:46:207 |
| 14 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 1:46:225 |
| 15 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 1:46:237 |
| 16 | David Beckmann | Charouz | 1:46:387 |
| 17 | Guilherme Samaia | Charouz | 1:46:585 |
| 18 | Gianluca Petecof | Campos | 1:46:597 |
| 19 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:46:718 |
| 20 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 1:46:788 |
| 21 | Matteo Nannini | HWA Racelab | 1:47:400 |
| 22 | Alessio Deledda | HWA Racelab | 1:48:888 |
