Pineiro fastest in first F2 practice

In cold and slightly damp conditions, the 19-year-old put in a late surge to move into the top spot with a 2m11.434s. That demoted Silverstone race winner Mirko Bortolotti into second, the Italian finishing just over 0.2 seconds shy of Pineiro's benchmark.

"I wasn't pushing my hardest because I knew the difference on the damp area would be the key," Pineiro reflected.

"There were three corners that were still wet, but I got a good set up and it's the first time I've raced here with a low downforce set up. Hopefully it will be dry in the next session and we'll keep working."

Behind the lead duo, Jack Clarke edged out fellow Briton Will Bratt by just over one tenth of a second to claim third fastest, with Mihai Marinescu in fifth the only other driver to finish within one second of Pineiro's time.

Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks finished sixth fastest, fractions ahead of Tobias Hegewald - who took a clean sweep when F2 last visited the circuit in 2009 - in seventh.

Championship leader and Magny-Cours double race winner Christopher Zanella meanwhile ended the session eighth fastest, ahead of Germany's Thiemo Storz and Spain's Miki Monras.

Pos  Driver                Time       Gap
 1.  Ramon Pineiro         2m11.434s
 2.  Mirko Bortolotti      2m11.660s  + 0.226s
 3.  Jack Clarke           2m11.903s  + 0.469s
 4.  Will Bratt            2m11.999s  + 0.565s
 5.  Mihai Marinescu       2m12.166s  + 0.732s
 6.  Kelvin Snoeks         2m12.469s  + 1.035s
 7.  Tobias Hegewald       2m12.503s  + 1.069s
 8.  Christopher Zanella   2m12.615s  + 1.181s
 9.  Thiemo Storz          2m13.186s  + 1.752s
10.  Miki Monras           2m13.287s  + 1.853s
11.  Alex Brundle          2m13.300s  + 1.866s
12.  Mikkel Mac            2m13.503s  + 2.069s
13.  Johannes Theobald     2m14.366s  + 2.932s
14.  Julian Theobald       2m14.483s  + 3.049s
15.  Armaan Ebrahim        2m14.578s  + 3.144s
16.  Benjamin Lariche      2m14.983s  + 3.549s
17.  Parthiva Sureshwaren  2m15.119s  + 3.685s
18.  Jose Luis Abadin      2m15.344s  + 3.910s
19.  Plamen Kralev         2m15.779s  + 4.345s
20.  James Cole            2m16.941s  + 5.507s
21.  Sunghak Mun           2m17.431s  + 5.997s
22.  Jordan King           2m18.509s  + 7.075s
23.  Maxim Snegirev        2m22.619s  + 11.185s