Photo: Red Bull Content Pool
DAMS driver Ayumu Iwasa edged Victor Martins to the fastest time in Formula 2 free practice at Silverstone.
Iwasa recorded a 1m41.593s moments before a late red flag to top the timesheet by 0.060 seconds ahead of Alpine juniors Martins and Jack Doohan.
The 45-minute session began with a close call in the pitlane, with ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire released into the path of Ralph Boschung and the incident noted by race control.
Iwasa was first to post a timed lap, recording a 1m43.213s before Martins went quickest with a 1m42.690s. Martins then lowered the pace further to 1m42.067s as the session reached the 15-minute mark, with Doohan moving into second ahead of Rodin Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi.
Doohan then took over at the top by lapping almost 0.3s faster than Martins, with Pourchaire then climbing to second and Fittipaldi improving to third.
Red flags were shown approaching the session’s halfway stage when Van Amersfoort Racing’s Juan Manuel Correa slid off at Copse and became beached in the gravel.
Practice resumed with just over 16 minutes left on the clock, and Martins soon improved to 1m41.883s to take second away from team-mate Pourchaire. Martins then went quicker still, recording a 1m41.653s to lead the way by 0.1s.
There was a virtual safety car period in the closing stages after Dennis Hauger spun to a halt at Brooklands, with green flags shown again inside the final five minutes.
Iwasa then snatched first place away from Martins with a 1m41.593s before the session was prematurely brought to an end when Clement Novalak spun into gravel on the exit of Stowe and brought red flags out for a second time.
Doohan set a personal best laptime just before the stoppage but had to settle for third behind Iwasa and Martins.
Despite also improving, Fittipaldi was edged to fourth by Arthur Leclerc, while Jak Crawford and Ollie Bearman also went quicker before the red flags to end up sixth and seventh ahead of Pourchaire.
Richard Verschoor, who won last time out, was ninth ahead of Hauger. Prema’s points leader Frederik Vesti had a low-key session and was 14th fastest.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gaps | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 1m41.593s | 13 | |
| 2 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 1m41.653s | +0.060s | 15 |
| 3 | Jack Doohan | Virtuosi Racing | 1m41.719s | +0.126s | 15 |
| 4 | Arthur Leclerc | DAMS | 1m41.810s | +0.217s | 14 |
| 5 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Carlin | 1m41.849s | +0.256s | 15 |
| 6 | Jak Crawford | Hitech GP | 1m41.859s | +0.266s | 15 |
| 7 | Ollie Bearman | Prema | 1m42.002s | +0.409s | 14 |
| 8 | Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 1m42.012s | +0.419s | 15 |
| 9 | Richard Verschoor | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m42.014s | +0.421s | 14 |
| 10 | Dennis Hauger | Prema | 1m42.212s | +0.619s | 12 |
| 11 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech GP | 1m42.285s | +0.692s | 14 |
| 12 | Zane Maloney | Carlin | 1m42.291s | +0.698s | 15 |
| 13 | Amaury Cordeel | Virtuosi Racing | 1m42.394s | +0.801s | 14 |
| 14 | Frederik Vesti | Prema | 1m42.461s | +0.868s | 14 |
| 15 | Ralph Boschung | Campos Racing | 1m42.498s | +0.905s | 15 |
| 16 | Jehan Daruvala | MP Motorsport | 1m42.516s | +0.923s | 14 |
| 17 | Roy Nissany | PHM by Charouz | 1m42.560s | +0.967s | 14 |
| 18 | Brad Benavides | PHM by Charouz | 1m42.648s | +1.055s | 15 |
| 19 | Kush Maini | Campos Racing | 1m42.670s | +1.077s | 15 |
| 20 | Clement Novalak | Trident | 1m42.764s | +1.171s | 10 |
| 21 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 1m42.910s | +1.317s | 10 |
| 22 | Juan Manuel Correa | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m43.214s | +1.621s | 8 |