Mercedes protege Gunther fastest as F2 testing ends
Arden International rookie Maximilian Gunther claimed honours on the final day of Formula 2 pre-season testing in Bahrain.
Photo by: FIA Formula 2
The Mercedes-backed F3 graduate recorded a time of 1m42.756s, dipping two-hundredths below the benchmark set by Trident’s Arjun Maini on Thursday.
Gunther’s effort came during the opening hour of running, with attention thereafter switching to race preparations in the form of long runs and pitstop practice.
Charouz Racing System’s Louis Deletraz emerged as Gunther’s closest rival, winding up 0.302s behind the German.
Mercedes-backed George Russell beat Renault reserve and ART Grand Prix teammate Jack Aitken to third, the latter causing one of three red flags when he stopped at Turn 8.
Sergio Sette Camara (Carlin) took fifth, in front of Russian Time’s Honda protege Tadasuke Makino and Maini, who jostled with Gunther for top spot before eventually slipping to seventh.
Luca Ghiotto classified in eighth spot for Campos, ahead of DAMS driver Alexander Albon, as Nirei Fukuzumi put in a late surge to round out the top 10, in front of Antonio Fuoco and Lando Norris.
Last year’s runner-up Artem Markelov and Ralph Boschung were the culprits of the other red flags, en route to 13th and 15th respectively.
Prema, which has guided Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc to the last two drivers’ titles, had a low-key display, with Nyck de Vries its lead representative in 16th.
Roy Nissany and Roberto Merhi were 18th and 20th as they again ran for Campos and MP Motorsport – the only teams yet to finalise their 2018 line-ups.
The series’ opening round will take place at the same venue in two weeks’ time on the support bill for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Testing times:
Pos. | Driver | Team | Morning | Afternoon |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Maximilian Gunther | Arden | 1'42.756 | 1'44.155 |
2 | Louis Deletraz | Charouz Racing System | 1'43.058 | 1'49.013 |
3 | George Russell | ART Grand Prix | 1'43.109 | 1'47.860 |
4 | Jack Aitken | ART Grand Prix | 1'43.143 | 1'48.600 |
5 | Sergio Sette Camara | Carlin | 1'43.149 | 1'45.310 |
6 | Tadasuke Makino | RUSSIAN TIME | 1'43.209 | 1'47.239 |
7 | Arjun Maini | Trident | 1'43.254 | 1'49.327 |
8 | Luca Ghiotto | Campos Racing | 1'43.266 | 1'48.759 |
9 | Alexander Albon | DAMS | 1'43.388 | 1'48.110 |
10 | Nirei Fukuzumi | Arden | 1'44.778 | 1'43.420 |
11 | Antonio Fuoco | Charouz Racing System | 1'43.474 | 1'44.512 |
12 | Lando Norris | Carlin | 1'43.490 | 1'46.937 |
13 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1'43.682 | 1'46.895 |
14 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1'43.715 | 1'48.776 |
15 | Ralph Boschung | MP Motorsport | 1'43.828 | 1'48.412 |
16 | Nyck de Vries | Prema Racing | 1'43.876 | 1'48.857 |
17 | Santino Ferrucci | Trident | 1'43.890 | 1'48.454 |
18 | Roy Nissany | Campos Racing | 1'43.975 | 1'48.469 |
19 | Sean Gelael | Prema Racing | 1'44.051 | 1'47.419 |
20 | Roberto Merhi | MP Motorsport | 1'44.625 | 1'46.908 |
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