Armstrong fastest on final day of F2 tests

TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Marcus Armstrong was the leading man on the third and final day of Formula 2 pre-season testing yesterday at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) in Sakhir. The Dams driver registered the fastest lap of one minute 42.173 seconds during the morning session, and his time held up until after six total hours of running to finish atop the combined timesheet.

With yesterday’s conclusion of the three-day F2 test, “The Home of Motorsport in the Middle East” now gears up for Formula 1 pre-season testing, set to be held from Friday to Sunday. For both F1 and F2, the Bahrain tests are their first chance to get an indication of how competitive their latest cars are ahead of their first races of the season, which will be at the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix weekend from March 26 to 28.

All the testing is taking place along BIC’s 5.412-kilometre Grand Prix track, and it is being held without spectators, as the circuit prepares for fans for the main event at the end of this month.

In yesterday’s F2 tests, Armstrong had the best time in the morning and was 10th in the afternoon run. All of the day’s top overall times were posted in the first three-hour session, with the leading 17 cars all within a second of one another.

Liam Lawson of Hitech Grand Prix was second-quickest with a best lap of 1:42.218, while teammate Juri Vips finished third with a 1:42.224 lap.

Guanyu Zhou (1:42.234) of Uni-Virtuosi was fourth, Lirim Zendeli (1:42.356) of MP Motorsport fifth, Robert Shwartzman (1:42.359) of Prema Racing sixth and Ralph Boschung (1:42.427) of Campos Racing was seventh.

Richard Verschoor (1:42.522) in the second MP car rounded out the top eight. Fastest in the afternoon session were Campos teammates Boschung (1:44.905) and Gianluca Petecof (1:45.537). Roy Nissany (1:46.104) was classified third.

Shwartzman (1:47.146), Zendeli (1:47.305), Oscar Piastri (1:47.326) of Prema Racing, Lawson (1:47.409) and Theo Pourchaire (1:47.426) of ART Grand Prix were fourth through eighth, respectively.

Following this weekend’s F1 tests, the stage will be set for the F1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix, the highly anticipated first round of the 2021 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.

Tickets are now available for this year’s race weekend for all vaccinated or COVID-19 recovered individuals.

The tickets are on sale at bahraingp.com with a single discounted price of BD100 across stands for the three-day event. For full eligibility criteria for those wishing to attend the race, or for other information on the highly anticipated event, visit bahraingp.com.