F2 | FP | Bahrain GP | Outstanding start for MP Motorsport in Sakhir Practice - Motorsport

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After a chaotic season opener in Melbourne, and in-season testing in Bahrain, F2 returned to the track, kicking off the Sakhir F2 Round with the Bahrain GP weekend’s first and only Free Practice session. Ahead of the second round of the F2 championship, AIX Racing’s Joshua Dürksen sits top of the Drivers’ Championship after winning the Melbourne Sprint Race. Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli sits second with 8 points, and Hitech TGR’s Luke Browning, who is set to participate in Formula 1’s FP1 session with Williams Racing, is third.

Green light for FP1

With teams focused on preparing for the afternoon’s Qualifying, the scorching temperatures in Bahrain, added another level of challenge to the drivers’ attempts to collect sufficient data. After a reconnaissance lap, the lights went green, allowing the drivers out onto the track.

DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford set the early benchmark of the F2 Practice at the Bahrain GP, a 2:04.265, before quickly improving to 1:49.433. He dropped to second as Dürksen went to the top of the timesheets with a 1:48:954. Oliver Goethe enjoyed additional downforce during the session with the big gurney installed on his rear wing, setting a time +1.512s behind Dürksen.

With 22 minutes remaining on the clock, Josep Maria Martí took the lead with a 1:48:379 lap time. Dürksen, however, fell to P10, with all of the drivers going for their push laps. At that point, Martí led the field, followed by newly Williams Racing Driver Academy Victor Martins, Alexander Dunne, Sami Meguetounif and Leonardo Fornaroli completing the top five.

A tricky circuit

As the session progressed, several drivers fell victim to the many heavy braking points of the Sakhir circuit, with Arvid Lindblad dramatically locking up in his Campos Racing machine. Cian Shields then locked up his left front wheel into turn 9 with his tyres overheating, and consequently went off the track.

Several drivers received black and white flag warnings for failing to follow the Race Director’s instructions and infringing practice start, including Martí, Goethe, Cordeel and Dunne.

Different practice strategies

While the five drivers at the front were covered by less than a couple of tenths of a second, a gap formed with some of the teams focusing on their race runs rather than their qualifying pace. Gabriele Minì, who fastest in Bahrain in-season testing, surprisingly ranked P17 with 10 minutes left in the free practice session. As for Martí, the Spanish driver kept on improving his own time towards the end of the session, with a best time of 1:48:379.

Goethe, however, managed to complete a lap with a minute left and positioned himself at the top of the timesheet with a 1:47:789, ahead of MP Motorsport teammate Richard Verschoor +0.222s behind. Martí fell to third, despite setting the pace for most of the session.

Oliver Goethe topped the FP1 timesheets with 13 laps in, followed by VER, JMA, completing the top ten.