Maloney quickest in F2 practice as technical trouble strikes Stanek

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney was the driver to beat in Formula 2 practice at Monza.

The 45-minute session began with a virtual safety car period, and the first laptime, a 1m52.248s, was set by Duerksen almost eight minutes in. It was swiftly beaten by several drivers, with Maloney posting a 1m50.232s, Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli going second fastest with a 1m51.388s and Virtuosi Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto taking third place.

Prema’s Ollie Bearman was first to get closer to a representative pace with a 1m44.104s, and AIX’s debuting Niels Koolen set a 1m49.093s to sit second for half a minute before ART Grand Prix’s Zak O’Sullivan posted a 1m44.807s and team-mate Victor Martins recorded a 1m45.281s.

Nine minutes in there were more big pace gains. A 1m35.440s from Maloney put him ahead for 20s before Bearman set a 1m34.751s. Bortoleto returned to third, ahead of Trident’s Richard Verschoor.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi reduced Bearman’s pace advantage to 0.53s, but in his slipstream O’Sullivan was able to set a new banchmark: a 1m34.577s.

At this point Trident’s Roman Stanek and Campos Racing’s championship leader Isack Hadjar had not set any laps, with Stanek’s car being examined by his team in the pits.

A few minutes later Maloney lowered the pace to 1m34.060, but Verschoor immediately bettered him by 0.048s. Bearman and Fittipaldi improved in third and fourth.

Hadjar finally put a laptime next to his name 16 minutes in, going 15.8s off the pace, and Maloney improved again to 1m33.664s. Bearman was 0.217s behind, and Verschoor was demoted to fourth when Hitech’s Paul Aron set a 1m33.740s.

A minute on Maloney was narrowly bettered again, this time by 0.018s. O’Sullivan now led the way, and Fittipaldi went fourth fastest. Maloney responded with a 1m33.381s, and Bortoleto set a 1m33.701s to return to third.

The session’s first half ended with a new name on top, as MP’s Dennis Hauger recorded a 1m33.209s. Maloney improved once more, but fell 0.123s short of going fastest, then joined most drivers in pitting.

Stanek and Hadjar made the most of clean air to get some laps in, before the track got busy again.

O’Sullivan went third fastest with 20 minutes to go, with Verschoor slotting into fourth a minute later before he found himself sharing the track only with the AIX drivers. They utilised the clean air well, as Duerksen lowered the pace to 1m32.953s to lead Verschoor by 0.222s.

Duerksen’s gap was reduced to 0.213s by Maloney 12 minutes from the end, and a minute later team-mate Ritomo Miyata went fastest by 0.007s.

A flurry of improvements came with eight minutes to go, and Bortoleto was briefly on top before Maloney set a 1m32.532s, followed by a 1m32.385s. O’Sullivan was 0.149s behind in second.

Bortoleto beat O’Sullivan by 0.004s with three minutes left, and Maloney went quickest in sector one before session-ending red flags waved. Stanek had returned to track, but pulled off on the run to Ascari.

Free practice results