Photo: FIA Formula 2
Trident’s Arjun Maini topped the first practice session of the 2018 Formula 2 season at Bahrain, with Carlin’s Lando Norris and Sergio Sette Camara going second and third fastest.
European Formula 3 champion Norris and team-mate Sette Camara topped the early running for the returning Carlin team, with DAMS driver Alexander Albon and ART Grand Prix’s George Russell third and fourth.
Haas development driver and Karun Chandhock protege Maini went fifth with his first flying lap, and set the session topping time with 17 minutes to go.
Norris, Sette Camara, Albon and Russell all failed to better their best laps, meaning Albon and Russell ended the session in fourth and fifth.
Returning Russian Time driver Artem Markelov, who finished runner-up to Charles Leclerc last year, was sixth fastest, with former Formula 1 driver Roberto Merhi, European F3 graduate Maximilian Gunther, Ferrari junior Antonio Fuoco and Sean Gelael completing the top 10.
Expected title challengers Jack Aitken, Nicholas Latifi and Nyck de Vries could only manage 11th, 12th and 13th, although all were less than eight tenths off the pace.
Free Practice results?
| Pos | Name | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arjun Maini | Trident | 1m44.549s |
| 2 | Lando Norris | Carlin | +0.051s |
| 3 | Sergio Sette Camara | Carlin | +0.104s |
| 4 | Alexander Albon | DAMS | +0.220s |
| 5 | George Russell | ART Grand Prix | +0.263s |
| 6 | Artem Markelov | ?Russian Time | +0.312s |
| 7 | Roberto Merhi | MP Motorsport | +0.456s |
| 8 | Maximilian Gunther | Arden | +0.461s |
| 9 | Antonio Fuoco | Charouz Racing System | +0.531s |
| 10 | Sean Gelael | Prema | +0.665s |
| 11 | Jack Aitken | ART Grand Prix | +0.719s |
| 12 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | +0.742s |
| 13 | Nyck de Vries | Prema | +0.780s |
| 14 | Tadasuke Makino | Russian Time | +0.782s |
| 15 | Luca Ghiotto | Campos Racing | +0.795s |
| 16 | Santino Ferrucci | Trident | +0.870s |
| 17 | Ralph Boschung | MP Motorsport | +1.015s |
| 18 | Nirei Fukuzumi | Arden | +1.300s |
| 19 | Louis Deletraz | Charouz Racing System | +1.409s |
| 20 | Roy Nissany | Campos Racing | +1.858s |