Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney set the fastest time of the three-day FIA Formula 2 pre-season test in Bahrain.
The test got underway Sunday, February 11 and concluded on Tuesday, February 13 marking the second time the Formula 2 field were all able to drive the new generation of car.
Largely similar to the previous iteration of the F2 machine, retaining a similar chassis and the same engine and gearbox, the new car sports an updated aero package via a reprofiled floor, nose, front and rear wing.
However, drivers hoping to get better acquainted with their new steeds would have been disappointed, as the first day of running was a complete washout.
Torrential rain in the Bahrain desert limited the first day of running dramatically.
Still, times were put on the board and it was MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger who set the fastest lap after 17 tours of the Sakhir International Circuit(1:53.175s).
Maloney was second fastest after completing 15 laps in the wet conditions with a time of 1:53.351s and 2023 Rookie of the Year Victor Martins completed the top three after clocking just 13 laps and setting a fastest time of 1:53.367s for ART Grand Prix.
Undoubtedly a lot of attention will be fixated on rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli and the hotly-rated Mercedes Junior Driver set the most amount of laps in his PREMA machine on Sunday, 24 to be precise en route to setting the fourth fastest time (1:53.511s).
“The opening day was quite uncommon as we got a full day of rain,” said Antonelli after his F2 journey continued under rainy skies. “But it was nice to get some driving on the wet to understand how the car and tyres were behaving. It was productive.”
“It’s nice to see yourself at the top, there’s no better feeling than that,” said Hauger at the end of the first day’s running.
“I’m still keen to get started tomorrow properly and then do some dry stints. There’s going to be a lot of stuff to test because now we only have two days and we haven’t been out there on a dry track yet, so there’s going to be a lot of stuff to figure out.”
Day 2
With the first day of running a washout, the remaining two days were vital as teams and drivers raced to get valuable data amid dry running.
The morning session was all about putting laps on the board, with all but three of the 22 competitors failing to log at least 20 laps and Hitech’s Amaury Cordeel clocking the most with 37.
Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini emerged quickest in Monday Morning’s running setting a time of 1:44.219s.
In the afternoon, lap times improved significantly and in the final hour, Maloney posted a 1:41.501s laptime that would not only end up fastest of the day after 31 laps of running, but of the entire three-day test.
“I think that’s a good sign,” the sophomore F2 driver said after the end of Day Two.
“I mean, I was six-tenths off the whole three days of testing last year, so I can only take it as a good sign and we’ll see going into tomorrow and then of course, with the short turnaround to round one.
“This morning, we mainly focused on race running and then this afternoon, performance runs – similar to everyone else up and down the grid. So, it’s good to get in dry after yesterday being so wet, good to get our first day in the car done proper and we came out the box quite strong.”
Second behind Maloney at the end of Monday’s running was recently announced Aston Martin Development Driver Jak Crawford in his DAMS machine, setting a 1:41.626s laptime during his 29-lap stint.
Third went to Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi, who clocked 33 laps and a fastest time of 1:41.735s.
Day 3
Race simulations were the order of the day in the final morning of the test, with Joshua Duerksen of PHM AIX Racing setting a lengthy 51 laps to clock the most mileage out of anyone.
Only one driver failed to complete at least 20 laps and 17 completed more than 30, including Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar, who topped the timesheets after 39 laps running with a 1:45.331s laptime.
Hadjar’s Campos team-mate Josep María Martí completed 41 laps and set the second fastest time in the morning, a 1:45.547s and the top three in the penultimate session of the three-day test was completed by Maini, who set a 1:46.310s laptime during his 48 tours of the circuit.
Into the afternoon, and the pace was turned up a bit, with Maloney once again pushing the pace.
The Barbadian Driver, a member of Suaber’s Academy, ended the final day fastest with a time of 1:42.468s.
Crawford was runner-up once again, setting a time of 1:42.661s ahead of Maloney’s Rodin teammate and reigning Super Formula Champion Ritomo Miyata, who clocked a 1:42.684s laptime.
The F2 field will now have time to reflect on the pre-season test before returning to Bahrain for Round 1 on February 29 – March 02.
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