Maini uses slick tyres on drying track to top second morning of F2 test

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

A late lap on supersoft tyres put Campos Racing’s Kush Maini back on top on the second morning of Formula 2’s in-season test at Barcelona.

The session had to be red flagged six times as several drivers ran off the track due to slippery surface conditions after rain hit the track.

Rodin Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi and Zane Maloney were the first out on track in the early stages of the session as light rain didn’t favour the running with the only specification of wet tyres that F2 teams have available.

The first red flag was out 20 minutes in as Trident’s Clement Novalak came to a halt at the exit of the second corner. A second red flag period followed 10 minutes later, due to Hitech GP’s Jak Crawford stopping at the exit of turn six.

Rain intensity increased as the session resumed, but more drivers headed out to test under wet conditions. ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins topped the charts with a laptime of 1m39.969s at the end of the first hour of running.

PHM Racing by Charouz’s Roy Nissany brought out the third red flag of the morning as he spun at the end of the main straight.

Martins’ team-mate Theo Pourchaire then broke into the 1m38s as the rain decreased and the Tarmac dried out.

Red flags were out for a fourth time approaching the last hour of the session as MP Motorport’s Dennis Hauger found the gravel trap in the new last section of the circuit and Prema’s Ollie Bearman had to stop at the end of the pitlane due to the track going red.

Fittipaldi and Campos’s Ralph Boschung caused the last two red flag periods of the morning with over half an hour remaining on the clock.

The drying track prompted drivers to go out and improve their laptimes in the closing stages, which led to lots of personal best sectors being shown on the timing screens.

Maini and DAMS’ Arthur Leclerc head out on soft and hard compound tyres respectively in the last 10 minutes, bettering other drivers’ benchmark on grooved tyres by over seven seconds.

Morning session results