Bearman heads PREMA Racing 1-2 on opening day of post-season F2 testing at Yas Marina

(Photos: F2 Media)

Oliver Bearman went quickest of all late on in the afternoon session of Day 1 to lead the way for PREMA Racing ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Briton set a 1:36.092 on the soft Pirelli tyres to end up quickest of all, while the Italian followed 0.165s down.

Victor Martins led the way for ART Grand Prix in a Red Flag-filled morning session, setting a 1:36.852 on mediums in the first half of the day.

MORNING

It was a very busy pitlane as the session went green, but things didn’t start as planned for Oliver Goethe. The #21 Trident came to a halt just before Turn 6 to bring out the first Red Flag of the day in the opening five minutes.

Back to green flag conditions, drivers filtered back out and it was Juan Manuel Correa that led in the early running for DAMS, setting a 1:38.388 in the opening hour. The second Red Flag came shortly afterwards, courtesy of Trident once more as Goethe stopped on track just after Turn 14.

The session resumed momentarily before a third Red Flag arrived minutes later, this time after Enzo Fittipaldi stopped in the #22 Van Amersfoort Racing car at Turn 7.

Underway again, and Jak Crawford was the first driver in the 1:37s, going quickest of all on a 1:37.845 for DAMS. He led the way with an hour gone but was the cause of the fourth Red Flag of the morning, coming to a halt at Turn 8.

With an hour and 50 minutes left of the morning, the session resumed before the fifth Red Flag was shown in quick succession. This time it was the Rodin Carlin of Ritomo Miyata, who’d stopped at Turn 11.

Back underway, the times were getting quicker as Victor Martins put ART Grand Prix fastest of all, dipping into the 1:36s to lead from Rodin Carlin’s Zane Maloney by 0.3s. The Frenchman then shaved a few hundredths off his personal best time to move onto a 1:36.852.

With just over half an hour remaining, Fittipaldi joined Martins in the 1:36s, going second quickest for VAR, 0.108s down on the top time. Crawford also made a late improvement, moving up to third in the final 10 minutes on a 1:37.006.

Antonelli was the busiest driver of the morning in his first test in F2 machinery, achieving 44 laps to close the first segment of the day.

AFTERNOON

Fresh from the lunchbreak, Miyata hit the front in the opening 15 minutes of the afternoon, setting a 1:37.796 in his #4 Rodin Carlin. Paul Aron in the #9 Hitech Pulse-Eight car was next to go fastest, with a time 0.241s quicker than Miyata’s initial benchmark.

The Estonian remained at the top of the time sheets until Josep María Martí set a 1:37.529 for Campos Racing to take P1 away as the clock ticked just over an hour gone.

With long runs very much the focus for much of the afternoon session, major improvements were few and far between. Bearman moved up to P1 just after the halfway stage, setting a 1:37.316 to lead the way for PREMA. Antonelli then made it a 1-2 for the Italian team but lost his time due to exceeding track limits, having been just 0.090s down on the Briton.

Aron improved to go within 0.016s of Bearman as the clock ticked towards the final hour of running, while Martí and Hadjar made it two Campos cars inside the top five, third and fourth respectively.

With 45 minutes to run, the PREMA duo improved once again as Bearman took the benchmark down to a 1:37.243, while Antonelli slotted into P2, 0.049s down on that effort. Formula 3 Champion Gabriel Bortoleto was next up to go quickest minutes later, the Brazilian setting a 1:37.110 to put Invicta Virtuosi Racing fastest.

Martins put ART back up near the top, going second before lowering the time to beat to a 1:37.032 as drivers got nearer and nearer the 1:36 barrier once more. With just over half an hour to go, the Frenchman became the first driver to get underneath that, setting a 1:36.986.

Amaury Cordeel was another to improve as the session neared the end, going third fastest with a 1:37.059 to leave the top three separated by just 0.073s.

On the soft Pirelli tyres, Bearman returned to P1 on a 1:36.294 with 14 minutes left of Day 1, before lowering that twice over to a 1:36.092. Antonelli followed in quick succession, moving himself up to P2, 0.165s further back.

Having dropped outside the top 10, Martins was back in the top three, 0.302s down on the lead PREMA to end Day 1. Colapinto ended up as the afternoon’s busiest driver, reaching 61 laps completed for MP Motorsport.

2023 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP – YAS MARINA POST-SEASON TEST, DAY 1, MORNING SESSION

Position Driver Licence Team Time Laps
1 Victor Martins FRA ART Grand Prix 1:36.852 35
2 Enzo Fittipaldi BRA Van Amersfoort Racing 1:36.960 37
3 Jak Crawford USA DAMS 1:37.006 34
4 Juan Manuel Correa USA DAMS 1:37.091 37
5 Franco Colapinto ARG MP Motorsport 1:37.105 38
6 Zane Maloney BRB Rodin Carlin 1:37.120 30
7 Dennis Hauger NOR MP Motorsport 1:37.163 33
8 Isack Hadjar FRA Campos Racing 1:37.263 33
9 Zak O’Sullivan GBR ART Grand Prix 1:37.394 33
10 Oliver Bearman GBR PREMA Racing 1:37.522 43
11 Amaury Cordeel BEL Hitech Pulse-Eight 1:37.810 28
12 Gabriel Bortoleto BRA Invicta Virtuosi Racing 1:37.979 33
13 Josep María Martí ESP Campos Racing 1:38.068 35
14 Richard Verschoor NED Trident 1:38.094 20
15 Andrea Kimi Antonelli ITA PREMA Racing 1:38.124 44
16 Joshua Durksen PRY PHM Racing 1:38.168 33
17 Paul Aron EST Hitech Pulse-Eight 1:38.171 29
18 Kush Maini IND Invicta Virtuosi Racing 1:38.214 37
19 Rafael Villagómez MEX Van Amersfoort Racing 1:38.550 35
20 Joshua Mason GBR PHM Racing 1:38.582 39
21 Oliver Goethe DEU Trident 1:38.663 27
22 Ritomo Miyata JPN Rodin Carlin 1:39.201 33

2023 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP – YAS MARINA POST-SEASON TEST, DAY 1, AFTERNOON SESSION

Position Driver Licence Team Time Laps
1 Oliver Bearman GBR PREMA Racing 1:36.092 37
2 Andrea Kimi Antonelli ITA PREMA Racing 1:36.257 37
3 Victor Martins FRA ART Grand Prix 1:36.394 43
4 Richard Verschoor NED Trident 1:36.425 29
5 Amaury Cordeel BEL Hitech Pulse-Eight 1:36.644 41
6 Dennis Hauger NOR MP Motorsport 1:36.690 56
7 Paul Aron EST Hitech Pulse-Eight 1:36.801 39
8 Zak O’Sullivan GBR ART Grand Prix 1:36.820 42
9 Isack Hadjar FRA Campos Racing 1:36.876 38
10 Enzo Fittipaldi BRA Van Amersfoort Racing 1:36.891 52
11 Oliver Goethe DEU Trident 1:36.959 47
12 Gabriel Bortoleto BRA Invicta Virtuosi Racing 1:37.044 46
13 Juan Manuel Correa USA DAMS 1:37.170 37
14 Josep María Martí ESP Campos Racing 1:37.463 32
15 Rafael Villagómez MEX Van Amersfoort Racing 1:37.511 54
16 Jak Crawford USA DAMS 1:37.567 39
17 Kush Maini IND Invicta Virtuosi Racing 1:37.644 28
18 Ritomo Miyata JPN Rodin Carlin 1:37.796 43
19 Joshua Mason GBR PHM Racing 1:38.172 42
20 Zane Maloney BRB Rodin Carlin 1:38.416 47
21 Joshua Durksen PRY PHM Racing 1:39.137 53
22 Franco Colapinto ARG MP Motorsport 1:39.699 61

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