The first of three days of FIA Formula 2 testing at Barcelona saw ART’s Christian Lundgaard top both the morning and afternoon sessions.
The Alpine academy driver went fastest in the morning as rising afternoon temperatures slowed the pace somewhat. The Dane’s 1:29:594 was just under two tenths clear of Felipe Drugovich who, like Lundgaard, has ambitions of a title charge in 2021.
Neither driver had the ideal start to the season in Bahrain but with the next round on the streets of Monaco, an improved haul of points will be high on the agenda for F2’s star drivers.
Another of those hoping for better fortunes in Monaco is Juri Vips who failed to score a point in Bahrain but the Estonian was third quickest from his Hitech GP teammate Liam Lawson – who won the opening race of the year.
Lirim Zendeli was fifth quickest for MP Motorsport having only scored two points in Bahrain, while his teammate Richard Verschoor scored 18 and ended the day tenth quickest. Verschoor was however one of the few to improve their lap time in the afternoon where he finished second fastest behind Lundgaard.
Championship leader Guanyu Zhou was sixth fastest which gives him even more encouragement as he looks to extend his lead in Monaco. The Chinese driver headed Marcus Armstrong, Ralph Boschung and race-winner from Bahrain Oscar Piastri on the opening day of testing.
Robert Shwartzman came into 2021 as the favourite for the title but he was only 21st in the morning and also failed to make the top ten in the afternoon which could be cause for concern for the Russian.
It was also a quiet day for Carlin duo Dan Ticktum and Jehan Daruvala who were just outside the top ten before focussing on long runs in the afternoon.
Pos. | Name | Team | Lap Time |
1 | Christian Lundgaard | ART | 1:29:594 |
2 | Felipe Drugovich | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:29:772 |
3 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 1:29:988 |
4 | Liam Lawson | Hitech GP | 1:30:006 |
5 | Lirim Zendeli | MP Motorsport | 1:30:078 |
6 | Guanyu Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:30:083 |
7 | Marcus Armstrong | DAMS | 1:30:158 |
8 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 1:30:259 |
9 | Oscar Piastri | PREMA | 1:30:425 |
10 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 1:30:519 |
11 | Dan Ticktum | Carlin | 1:30:598 |
12 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:30:674 |
13 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 1:30:723 |
14 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:30:727 |
15 | Bent Viscaal | Trident | 1:30:727 |
16 | Théo Pourchaire | ART | 1:30:738 |
17 | Gianluca Petecof | Campos | 1:30:882 |
18 | Matteo Nannini | HWA Racelab | 1:30:953 |
19 | David Beckmann | Charouz | 1:30:973 |
20 | Guilherme Samaia | Charouz | 1:31:305 |
21 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA | 1:31:435 |
22 | Alessio Deledda | HWA Racelab | 1:37:100 |
Pos. | Name | Team | Lap Time |
1 | Christian Lundgaard | ART | 1:29:827 |
2 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 1:30:165 |
3 | Théo Pourchaire | ART | 1:30:167 |
4 | Marcus Armstrong | DAMS | 1:30:617 |
5 | Liam Lawson | Hitech GP | 1:30:739 |
6 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | 1:30:755 |
7 | Lirim Zendeli | MP Motorsport | 1:30:767 |
8 | David Beckmann | Charouz | 1:30:824 |
9 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | 1:30:956 |
10 | Felipe Drugovich | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:31:075 |
11 | Bent Viscaal | Trident | 1:31:198 |
12 | Oscar Piastri | PREMA | 1:31:350 |
13 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA | 1:31:440 |
14 | Gianluca Petecof | Campos | 1:31:532 |
15 | Guilherme Samaia | Charouz | 1:31:575 |
16 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:34:503 |
17 | Alessio Deledda | HWA Racelab | 1:34:629 |
18 | Guanyu Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:34:783 |
19 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:35:511 |
20 | Matteo Nannini | HWA Racelab | 1:35:787 |
21 | Dan Ticktum | Carlin | 1:35:865 |
22 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 1:36:166 |