Daruvala tops first day of 2022 FIA F2 testing in Bahrain

The Prema Racing driver, who joins the team from Carlin this season, set a 1m42.074s to go quickest, half a second quicker than second placed Calan Williams of Trident.

Daruvala, a Red Bull junior, finished seventh in the 2021 drivers’ standings, with two wins and five podiums.

The 2021 FIA Formula 3 champion Dennis Hauger, who stayed with Prema for his move up to F2, finished in third with a 1m42.602s, followed by Carlin’s Liam Lawson in fourth.

His team-mate Logan Sargeant finished fifth, moving up from F3 where he drove for Charouz Racing System.

Marcus Armstrong finished seventh ahead of his third season in F2, having joined Hitech Grand Prix for 2022.

Felipe Drugovich was the first driver to dip below 1m44s in the afternoon session, setting a 1m43.831s early on, before Lawson went fastest.

But with just over five minutes remaining, the times dipped below 1m43s, with Daruvala, Williams and Hauger all setting quicker laps.

Jack Doohan, who finished as runner-up in last year’s F3 championship but moves up the single-seater pyramid with Virtuosi Racing finished in 18th place overall. Marino Sato, his team-mate at the 2021 teams’ championship runners-up, finished in 13th.

Lawson went fastest early on in the morning session, setting a 1m44.522s.

Drugovich finished second, four-tenths off the leader, with Logan Sargeant in third with a 1m45.010s.

Jehan Daruvala came in fourth, while Doohan came fifth with a 1m45.182s.

Juri Vips and Williams failed to set representative times in the morning, finishing in 21st and 22nd with times just over the two-minute mark.

Vips also had issues in the afternoon’s session, but finished the day in ninth place with a quickest lap of 1m43.946s.

F2 testing continues until Friday ahead of the season opener in Bahrain from 19-20 March.