Lawson leads interrupted second day of FIA F2 Bahrain testing

The Kiwi sophomore, who switches to Carlin from Hitech Grand Prix after finishing ninth in last year’s standings, set a 1m41.623s to top the timesheet.

Ralph Boschung finished second for Campos Racing, over three-tenths behind pace-setter Lawson, with ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire setting an identical time of 1m42.096s.

Lawson’s teammate Logan Sargeant logged the fourth fastest time, with fellow Formula 3 graduate Jack Doohan (Virtuosi) taking fifth with a 1m42.144s.

The times tumbled in the afternoon’s running, initially falling below the 1m45s mark before they evolved during the session to below 1m43s – almost three seconds quicker than the best time in the morning.

MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich had been leading the field with a 1m42.273s lap until Williams junior driver Sargeant went quicker with 45 minutes left of running with a 1m42.144s.

But Lawson soon broke the 1m42s barrier, heading into the 1m41s as the only driver to do so.

Five red flags were flown during the day’s running at the Bahrain International Circuit – three in the morning session and two in the afternoon.

The stoppages in the morning were all for cars stopped on track. Amaury Cordeel (Van Amersfoort Racing) stopped at Turn 8 causing the first pause in running, before the same happened at Turn 7 later in the session, with DAMS rookie Ayumu Iwasa causing the second stoppage at Turn 2.

Running resumed in the afternoon but there was a red flag just 15 minutes into the session after former Ferrari junior Marcus Armstrong (Hitech Grand Prix) clipped the barrier at Turn 8, before running resumed 15 minutes later with 1h47 remaining on the clock.

Some 20 minutes later, the session was interrupted again as repairs were made to signage at Turn 13.

Juri Vips (Hitech) topped the morning session early on as the only driver to dip below 1m47s, setting a 1m46.705s, but had slipped to 13th by the end of the day.

Trident’s Richard Verschoor was second in the morning, with rookie Cem Bolukbasi third for Charouz Racing System.

The Turkish driver's teammate Enzo Fittpaldi finished the morning fourth, with Jake Hughes (Van Amersfoort) and Boschung in fifth and sixth.

Jehan Daruvala, who topped Thursday’s running, ended the day ninth for Prema Racing.