Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins edged out fellow Williams Academy member Luke Browning by 0.051 seconds to top Formula 2 free practice at Silverstone.
The early pace was set by Prema’s Sebastian Montoya who was impressive throughout the session. His opening time of 1m43.160s was over a second clear of MP Motorsport’s championship leader Richard Verschoor.
He didn’t remain at the top for long, as Martins briefly moved ahead with a 1m42.393s lap before DAMS’s Jak Crawford went fastest with a 1m42.328s. Trident’s Sami Meguetounif soon climbed to second, just 0.041s shy of Crawford’s benchmark.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Rafael Villagómez bought out the red flags with 30 minutes remaining by locking up his rear wheels under braking for the Club chicane and spinning to a halt.
After a short stoppage, cars were back out on track with 15 minutes left of the session. Kush Maini continued DAMS’s form by putting himself third with a 1m42.402s, and he was only 0.074s off his teammate’s pace.
Crawford was replaced at the top as drivers began to set faster lap times with the clock ticking down. Home hero Luke Browning claimed top spot for Hitech GP with a 1m42.324s, marginally ahead of Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne who is looking to bounce back after his difficult weekend in Austria.
The times kept improving, with Martins and Montoya replacing Browning at the front before the latter reaffirmed his place at the top by being the first driver to break into the 1m41s.
With eight minutes left, MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe went third with before swifly being displaced by Crawford. The American looked to set make a further improvement on his next lap by going fastest in the first and second sectors, but then made an error in the final sector.
With the chequered flag out, Martins stole top spot away from Browning by 0.051s with a 1m41.699s. Crawford completed the top three ahead of Hitech’s Ferrari junior Dino Beganovic and Montoya.
MP’s Oliver Goethe was 0.2s shy of Montoya in sixth, while his team-mate Verschoor was eighth and one place behind DAMS’s Kush Maini. Dunne ended up 0.6s off the pace in 11th.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 1m41.699s | 16 | |
| 2 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 1m41.750s | +0.051s | 17 |
| 3 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | 1m41.862s | +0.163s | 18 |
| 4 | Dino Beganovic | Hitech GP | 1m41.923s | +0.224s | 17 |
| 5 | Sebastian Montoya | Prema | 1m41.962s | +0.263s | 17 |
| 6 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 1m42.170s | +0.471s | 16 |
| 7 | Kush Maini | DAMS | 1m42.221s | +0.522s | 17 |
| 8 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 1m42.247s | +0.548s | 17 |
| 9 | Ritomo Miyata | ART Grand Prix | 1m42.281s | +0.582s | 16 |
| 10 | Roman Stanek | Invicta Racing | 1m42.309s | +0.610s | 17 |
| 11 | Alexander Dunne | Rodin Motorsport | 1m42.330s | +0.631s | 14 |
| 12 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 1m42.369s | +0.670s | 17 |
| 13 | Arvid Lindblad | Campos Racing | 1m42.429s | +0.730s | 17 |
| 14 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Invicta Racing | 1m42.518s | +0.819s | 17 |
| 15 | Joshua Durksen | AIX Racing | 1m42.533s | +0.834s | 16 |
| 16 | Gabriele Mini | Prema | 1m42.635s | +0.936s | 17 |
| 17 | Max Esterson | Trident | 1m42.659s | +0.960s | 17 |
| 18 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | 1m42.812s | +1.113s | 17 |
| 19 | John Bennett | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m42.884s | +1.185s | 17 |
| 20 | Amaury Cordeel | Rodin Motorsport | 1m43.582s | +1.883s | 14 |
| 21 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 1m43.595s | +1.896s | 16 |
| 22 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m44.251s | +2.552s | 7 |