Isack Hadjar tops first F2 practice session of 2024

Photo: Red Bull Content Pool

Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar was fastest in the first Formula 2 practice session of the season at Bahrain.

He was one of only three drivers to set laptimes in the first 10 minutes of the 45-minute session, with MP Motorsport duo Dennis Hauger and Franco Colapinto joining him on track.

Colapinto went to the top with a 1m46.975s lap 12 minutes in, as Hadjar improved to 1m48.127s in second and his team-mate Pepe Marti became the fourth driver to head out.

Marti went fastest on his second lap, setting a 1m46.544s, and Hadjar improved again but remained in third while Hauger had his best lap deleted. Hauger responded by going fastest with a 1m45.904s, with Marti briefly stopping on track and Colapinto improving to 1m46.549s in third.

After 17 minutes the quartet were joined by eight other drivers, but all were initially over 10 seconds off the pace.

At the session’s halfway point it was Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney who led the way, a 1m45.588s putting him 0.261s clear of Marti in second place, with Hauger third and Virtuosi Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto in fourth. Now all drivers had set representative laptimes.

DAMS’ Jak Crawford rose from seventh to fourth with a 1m46.037s lap set 24 minutes in, and his team-mate Juan Manuel Correa jumped up to sixth. But soon they were shuffled back down the order as ART Grand Prix’s Zak O’Sullivan set a 1m45.942s to go fourth fastest then his team-mate Victor Martins joined him in the top five with a 1m45.974s.

Bortoleto improved to rise back up to seventh, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagomez had an issue that meant he was running slowly on track but no yellow flags waved.

Hauger reduced Maloney’s gap at the top to 0.22s with 17 minutes to go, and Crawford was just 0.016s slower than him in third while VAR’s Enzo Fittipaldi jumped up to sixth as he became the latest driver to lap sub-1m46s.

Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata made it a Rodin one-two two minutes later, setting a 1m46.680s, and the next change to the top 10 occurred with 10 minutes left on the clock as Hadjar set a 1m45.399s to jump from 18th to first place.

Marti also improved, but the 1m45.648s lap that put him third was then deleted and he dropped to sixth. Hadjar found another 0.3s with four minutes remaining to ensure he remained on top, as in the final minute Colapinto set a 1m45.236s to go second fastest.

Prema’s Ollie Bearman stopped on track late on and ended the session 19th, four places behind rookie team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

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