Bahrain Formula 2: Renault's Rowland tops first session of new era
Renault Formula 1 development driver Oliver Rowland topped the first Formula 2 practice session of 2017, in scorching temperatures at the Bahrain International Circuit
The British driver came out on top of tight battle for first place, with Russian Time's Artem Markelov and Prema Racing duo Charles Leclerc and Antonio Fuoco all putting in efforts that were just over 0.1s slower than Rowland's best.
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The fastest times of the session were set during the early running on the medium Pirelli tyres, as the drivers encountered high track temperatures of 45C.
That meant the 1m42.221s set by Rowland - whose Renault F1 role was announced on Thursday - was not bettered, with Markelov getting closest, finishing 0.092 seconds adrift.
Norman Nato, winner of the first round of what was then called GP2 in 2016, finished fifth, ahead of Luca Ghiotto and Nyck de Vries, who endured a disrupted session for Rapax.
McLaren F1 junior de Vries spent the first third of the 45-minute session in the pits before he was finally able to put in timed a lap.
He then twice ground to a halt in pitlane before making it back to the Rapax garage, and the 22-year-old's problems eventually forced him to stop at Turn 8, which triggered the virtual safety car with just 12 minutes remaining.
Johnny Cecotto Jr - a veteran of 119 GP2 races - finished eighth fastest for Rapax, with Nobuharu Matsushita and Gustav Malja rounding out the top 10 for ART Grand Prix and Racing Engineering.
Several drivers had off-track moments, particularly at Turn 10, with Rowland, Matsushita and Leclerc among those caught out.
Jordan King finished down in 12th place for MP Motorsport, ahead of Rowland's DAMS team-mate, Nicholas Latifi.
Stefano Coletti, a winner of seven GP2 races, was 16th, and the 2016 Formula V8 and GP3 runners up - Louis Deletraz and Alexander Albon - brought up the rear of the field in 19th and 20th.
PRACTICE TIMES:
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Oliver Rowland | DAMS | 1m42.221s | - | 16 |
2 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m42.313s | 0.092s | 13 |
3 | Charles Leclerc | Prema Racing | 1m42.372s | 0.151s | 15 |
4 | Antonio Fuoco | Prema Racing | 1m42.381s | 0.160s | 12 |
5 | Norman Nato | Pertamina Arden | 1m42.594s | 0.373s | 13 |
6 | Luca Ghiotto | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m42.715s | 0.494s | 14 |
7 | Nyck de Vries | Rapax | 1m43.052s | 0.831s | 6 |
8 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Rapax | 1m43.146s | 0.925s | 16 |
9 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1m43.213s | 0.992s | 15 |
10 | Gustav Malja | Racing Engineering | 1m43.230s | 1.009s | 14 |
11 | Sergio Sette Camara | MP Motorsport | 1m43.260s | 1.039s | 15 |
12 | Jordan King | MP Motorsport | 1m43.265s | 1.044s | 15 |
13 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1m43.323s | 1.102s | 15 |
14 | Sean Gelael | Pertamina Arden | 1m43.355s | 1.134s | 13 |
15 | Ralph Boschung | Campos Racing | 1m43.479s | 1.258s | 12 |
16 | Stefano Coletti | Campos Racing | 1m43.632s | 1.411s | 16 |
17 | Nabil Jeffri | Trident | 1m43.891s | 1.670s | 16 |
18 | Sergio Canamasas | Trident | 1m43.958s | 1.737s | 15 |
19 | Louis Deletraz | Racing Engineering | 1m44.016s | 1.795s | 14 |
20 | Alexander Albon | ART Grand Prix | 1m44.360s | 2.139s | 15 |
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