Fresh from his test with the Haas Formula 1 team at the Yas Marina Circuit, Louis Deletraz linked up with Carlin and set the pace during post-season Formula 2 running on Thursday.
Deletraz clocked a best time of 1:49.984 for the newly-crowned F2 champions, 24 hours after his outing in Haas' VF-18, to finish 0.143s clear of Luca Ghiotto, who returned to his 2017 squad Russian Time.
Ferrari protégé Callum Ilott stepped up to Formula 2 with Charouz Racing System and placed third, in front of DAMS veteran Nicholas Latifi and ART Grand Prix man Nyck de Vries.
Sauber tester Tatiana Calderon was a fine sixth on her debut in Formula 2 machinery while 2019 McLaren F1 reserve Sergio Sette Camara was seventh, having switched to DAMS.
Honda-backed Formula 2 returnee Nobuharu Matsushita was eighth for Carlin, as Prema’s Sean Gelael and MP Motorsport’s Juan Manuel Correa rounded out the top 10, just over six-tenths adrift of leader Deletraz.
GP3 runner-up Nikita Mazepin was 11th for ART while the series’ final champion Anthoine Hubert was 14th, having tested for MP Motorsport.
Mick Schumacher, who will step up with Prema as the reigning European Formula 3 champion, finished 12th.
