Deletraz ends Bahrain post-season F2 test on top
Haas Formula 1 reserve driver Louis Deletraz set the pace for MP Motorsport as the three-day post-season Formula 2 test came to a conclusion on Bahrain’s grand prix layout on Thursday.
Deletraz was up to pace immediately as track action got underway at 9am local time, lapping the circuit in 1m41.827s just 17 minutes into the session to snatch the top spot early on.
That time would remain unbeaten throughout the day, with no other driver dipping into the 1m41s after six hours of running across two sessions.
Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala finished second on Thursday’s after topping the opening two days of running, with his morning effort of 1m42.005s putting him 0.178s down on Deletraz.
However, the Indian driver still ended the three-day test the quickest of all thanks to his Wednesday benchmark of 1m41.686s.
Red Bull junior Juri Vips (Hitech) finished just over a tenth adrift of the leading duo on Thursday, with Dan Tictkum not far behind in fourth on another strong day for Carlin.
Liam Lawson was the top F3 graduate in fifth, the Hitech driver ending the day just 0.002s off Ticktum’s time of 1m42.302s.
MP Motorsport’s Lirim Zendeli, UNI-Virtuosi driver Felipe Drugovich and Campos man Ralph Boschung were all separated by less than a tenth of a second in sixth, seventh and eighth places respectively.
Boschung’s teammate Logan Sargeant was ninth quickest, while Guilherme Samaia completed the top 10 for Charouz, nearly eight tenths down on Deletraz’s chart-topping time.
Most of the day's quickest times were set in the morning, with only Drugovich's afternoon effort of 1m42.435s good enough to grab a spot in the overall top 10.
Boschung and Bent Viscaal (Trident) stopped on the start/finish straight in the morning due to separate reasons and were unable to return to the track for the rest of the day.
There was only a single stoppage in the afternoon session, deployed just after the halfway mark and lasting less than five minutes when Theo Pourchaire's ART came to a halt.
Day 3 morning results:
| DRIVER | TEAM | LAPTIME | LAPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Louis Delétraz | MP Motorsport | 1:41.872 | 25 |
| 2 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:42.005 | 31 |
| 3 | Juri Vips | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:42.145 | 46 |
| 4 | Dan Ticktum | Carlin | 1:42.302 | 30 |
| 5 | Liam Lawson | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:42.304 | 40 |
| 6 | Lirim Zendeli | MP Motorsport | 1:42.409 | 35 |
| 7 | Ralph Boschung | Campos Racing | 1:42.479 | 9 |
| 8 | Logan Sargeant | Campos Racing | 1:42.524 | 26 |
| 9 | Guilherme Samaia | Charouz Racing System | 1:42.606 | 36 |
| 10 | Christian Lundgaard | ART Grand Prix | 1:42.695 | 39 |
| 11 | Felipe Drugovich | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:42.697 | 39 |
| 12 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA Racing | 1:42.818 | 32 |
| 13 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:43.009 | 16 |
| 14 | Clément Novalak | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:43.028 | 37 |
| 15 | Théo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 1:43.164 | 28 |
| 16 | Bent Viscaal | Trident | 1:43.478 | 35 |
| 17 | Oscar Piastri | PREMA Racing | 1:43.521 | 30 |
| 18 | Roberto Merhi | BWT HWA RACELAB | 1:43.704 | 19 |
| 19 | David Beckmann | Charouz Racing System | 1:43.966 | 19 |
| 20 | Matteo Nannini | BWT HWA RACELAB | 1:44.749 | 22 |
| 21 | Marcus Armstrong | DAMS | 1:47.574 | 41 |
| 22 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 1:47.964 | 43 |
Day 3 afternoon results:
| DRIVER | TEAM | LAPTIME | LAPS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felipe Drugovich | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:42.435 | 26 |
| 2 | Oscar Piastri | PREMA Racing | 1:42.784 | 33 |
| 3 | Marcus Armstrong | DAMS | 1:42.827 | 25 |
| 4 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA Racing | 1:43.268 | 32 |
| 5 | Clément Novalak | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:43.411 | 35 |
| 6 | Guilherme Samaia | Charouz Racing System | 1:43.612 | 41 |
| 7 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 1:43.652 | 32 |
| 8 | Roberto Merhi | BWT HWA RACELAB | 1:43.665 | 29 |
| 9 | David Beckmann | Charouz Racing System | 1:43.922 | 47 |
| 10 | Matteo Nannini | BWT HWA RACELAB | 1:44.228 | 28 |
| 11 | Lirim Zendeli | MP Motorsport | 1:45.504 | 38 |
| 12 | Louis Deletraz | MP Motorsport | 1:46.787 | 42 |
| 13 | Liam Lawson | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:47.218 | 42 |
| 14 | Logan Sargeant | Campos Racing | 1:47.387 | 53 |
| 15 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:47.527 | 49 |
| 16 | Jüri Vips | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:47.727 | 36 |
| 17 | Théo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 1:47.914 | 15 |
| 18 | Christian Lundgaard | ART Grand Prix | 1:48.074 | 47 |
| 19 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:48.236 | 50 |
| 20 | Dan Ticktum | Carlin | 1:48.258 | 50 |
| -- | Ralph Boschung | Campos Racing | -- | 0 |
| -- | Bent Viscaal | Trident | -- | 0 |
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About this article
| Series | FIA F2 |
| Event | Bahrain December testing |
| Author | Rachit Thukral |
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