Red Bull junior Liam Lawson set the fastest time across three days of testing at the Sakhir circuit ahead of Formula 2’s season-opener at the venue later this month.
The Kiwi, who has switched from Hitech GP to Carlin for his second campaign in the series, set a time of 1m41.623s in the afternoon session on Thursday.
Fellow Red Bull protege Jehan Daruvla, who has moved to reigning champions Prema after two seasons with Carlin, was second quickest overall – one of only four drivers to set his best lap during the evening running on the previous day. F2 veteran Ralph Boschung was third for Campos.
Lawson topped the opening two and a half hour session on Wednesday morning, lapping almost 0.4 seconds faster than MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich, with Carlin team-mate Logan Sargeant a further 0.1s behind. Daruvala was fourth ahead of Virtuosi pair Jack Doohan and Marino Sato in a session that was red-flagged three times.
In the cooler evening conditions, Daruvala knocked almost 2.5s off Lawson’s benchmark to top the second session of the day. F2 rookie Calan Williams impressed for Trident with the second best time, fractionally ahead of reigning FIA Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger (Prema), the pair both recording what proved to be their best laps of the week. Lawson, Sargeant and Drugovich were just under 1s further behind, with two further red flags disrupting proceedings.
Juri Vips, who caused two of the previous day’s stoppages, was fastest for Hitech in the Thursday morning session which included three more red flags. Trident’s Richard Verschoor, who raced for MP Motorsport last year, was half a second behind. Charouz had a strong session, with Cem Bolukbasi third ahead of team-mate Enzo Fittipaldi, who was back in the car after his leg-breaking startline crash in Saudi Arabia last season. Jake Hughes was fifth for Van Amersfoort Racing, which is making it’s F2 debut this year, ahead of Boschung.
The afternoon session was the fastest of the test for most drivers. Boschung went fastest in the closing stages, before Lawson bettered his effort by 0.473s. Theo Pourchaire, who has remained at ART for a second campaign, set an identical time to Boschung and was classified third. Sargeant was fourth, closely followed by Doohan and Sato.
Times were slower on Friday morning, as drivers focused on long-distance running. Drugovich led an MP Motorsport one-two ahead of team-mate Clement Novalak, who his stepping up from F3 this season. Vips was third ahead of Lawson and Sargeant, with Williams F1 test driver Roy Nissany sixth for DAMS. The final scheduled session of the test in the afternoon was cancelled due to a sandstorm.
Testing results (combined)
| DRIVER | TEAM | LAPTIME | SESSION | |
| 1 | Liam Lawson | Carlin | 1:41.623 | Thursday (PM) |
| 2 | Jehan Daruvala | PREMA Racing | 1:42.074 |
Wednesday (PM)
|
| 3 | Ralph Boschung | Campos Racing | 1:42.096 | Thursday (PM) |
| 4 | Théo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 1:42.096 | Thursday (PM) |
| 5 | Logan Sargeant | Carlin | 1:42.133 | Thursday (PM) |
| 6 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi Racing | 1:42.144 | Thursday (PM) |
| 7 | Marino Sato | Virtuosi Racing | 1:42.174 | Thursday (PM) |
| 8 | Frederik Vesti | ART Grand Prix | 1:42.174 | Thursday (PM) |
| 9 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 1:42.273 | Thursday (PM) |
| 10 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | 1:42.297 | Thursday (PM) |
| 11 | Jake Hughes | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:42.483 | Thursday (PM) |
| 12 | Amaury Cordeel | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:42.562 | Thursday (PM) |
| 13 | Juri Vips | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:42.565 | Thursday (PM) |
| 14 | Calan Williams | Trident | 1:42.590 |
Wednesday (PM)
|
| 15 | Dennis Hauger | PREMA Racing | 1:42.602 |
Wednesday (PM)
|
| 15 | Cem Bölükbasi | Charouz Racing System | 1:42.729 | Thursday (PM) |
| 16 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Charouz Racing System | 1:42.739 | Thursday (PM) |
| 17 | Clément Novalak | MP Motorsport | 1:42.991 | Thursday (PM) |
| 19 | Roy Nissany | DAMS | 1:43.083 | Thursday (PM) |
| 20 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 1:43.284 | Thursday (PM) |
| 21 | Olli Caldwell | Campos Racing | 1:43.654 | Thursday (PM) |
| 22 | Marcus Armstrong | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:43.877 |
Wednesday (PM)
|
Featured image credit: @formula2 official twitter
