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Lundgaard quickest on first day of Formula 2 Barcelona test

Alpine Formula 1 academy driver Christian Lundgaard topped the times on the opening day of the FIA Formula 2 in-season test at Barcelona.

Christian Lundgaard, ART Grand Prix

Christian Lundgaard, ART Grand Prix

Formula Motorsport Ltd

The ART Grand Prix driver emerged fastest in both the first morning and afternoon three-hour sessions of the three-day test at the Circuit de Catalunya.

Held in dry and bright conditions, Lundgaard posted a 1m29.594s effort to head the morning session, which proved to be the fastest time of the day, having sat atop of the timesheets for the majority of the outing.

UNI Virtuosi’s Felipe Drugovich proved Lundgaard’s nearest rival with a time 0.178s shy of the Dane, while Red Bull rookie Juri Vips (Hitech Grand Prix) was the only other driver to dip under the 1m30s bracket to claim third in the morning session.

Bahrain race winner Liam Lawson was fourth quickest ahead of MP Motorsport’s Lirim Zendeli and championship leader Guanyu Zhou, driving for UNI Virtuosi.

The morning session was halted briefly due to a stoppage with half an hour remaining when Gianluca Petecof (Campos Racing) stopped in Sector 1 and DAMS’ Roy Nissany came to a halt in Sector 2.

Lundgaard continued his strong form into the afternoon session but was unable to better his morning effort, clocking a 1m29.827s to top the times.

MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor was second fastest a mere 0.338s shy, while rookie Theo Pourchaire was third in the sister ART Grand Prix entry.

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Marcus Armstrong (DAMS) was fourth ahead of Lawson, Ralph Boschung (Campos Racing) and Zendeli, who caused a red flag 15 minutes into the afternoon running.

 

Oscar Piastri, PREMA Racing

Oscar Piastri, PREMA Racing

Photo by: James Gasperotti

Champion team Prema Racing found themselves around the fringes of the top 10 with Oscar Piastri ninth and 12th in the sessions, while Robert Shwartzman set times good enough for 21st and 13th respectively.

Meanwhile, Zhou ended the afternoon in 18th spot.

Nissany caused a second red flag period when he stopped in Sector 2 in the second hour.

Teams were able to select from Pirelli’s new-for-2021 hard and medium compound tyres for the three-day test. The hard compound made its debut at the season opening round at Bahrain last month while the medium tyre is yet to be raced by the teams.

The test continues tomorrow with two more three-hour sessions, with the schedule replicated for the final day on Sunday.

F2 will return to action at the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix for round two on 20-22 May.

FIA F2 Barcelona Test Day 1

Cla Driver Team Morning Time  Afternoon Time
1 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 1m29.594

1m29.827
2 Felipe Drugovich UNI-Virtuosi 1m29.772 1m31.075
3 Juri Vips Hitech Grand Prix 1m29.988 1m30.956
4 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1m30.006 1m30.739
5 Lirim Zendeli MP Motorsport 1m30.078 1m30.767
6 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 1m30.083 1m34.783
7 Marcus Armstrong DAMS 1m30.158 1m30.617
8 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 1m30.519 1m30.165
9 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1m30.738 1m30.167
10 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1m30.259 1m30.755
11 Oscar Piastri Prema Racing 1m30.425 1m31.350
12 Dan Ticktum Carlin 1m30.598 1m35.865
13 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 1m30.674 1m35.511
14 Roy Nissany DAMS 1m30.723 1m36.166
15 Bent Viscaal Trident 1m30.727 1m31.198
16 Marino Sato Trident 1m30.727 1m34.503
17 David Beckmann Charouz Racing System 1m30.973 1m30.824
18 Gianluca Petecof Campos Racing 1m30.882 1m31.532
19 Matteo Nannini HWA Racelab 1m30.953 1m35.787
20 Guilherme Samaia Charouz Racing System 1m31.305 1m31.575
21 Robert Shwartzman Prema Racing 1m31.435 1m31.440
22 Alessio Deledda HWA Racelab 1m37.100 1m34.629

 

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