Mick Schumacher ends first F2 pre-season test at Jerez on top

Photo: Joe Portlock / FIA F2 Championship

Mick Schumacher set the fastest time of the week on the final day of the opening Formula 2 pre-season test at Jerez.

The newly-signed member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, embarking on his rookie F2 campaign with Prema after winning last year’s European Formula 3 title, topped the morning session on Thursday with a 1m24.028s lap set inside the first hour.

That was seven tenths of a second quicker than the benchmark set on Wednesday morning by Nyck de Vries, who dominated the early part of the test.

Jack Aitken, who was confirmed as Renault F1 test driver on Wednesday, was second quickest for Campos Racing, 0.212s away from Schumacher and 0.007s ahead of Carlin’s Louis Deletraz.

Nicholas Latifi was fourth for DAMS with de Vries taking fifth for ART and Dorian Boccolacci sixth in the second Campos car.

Giuliano Alesi, Luca Ghiotto, Sean Gelael and Richard Verschoor rounded out the top 10.

Times were considerably slower in the afternoon session as teams focused their efforts on longer runs.

Jordan King, who returned to action for MP Motorsport on the final day after a mechanical issue kept him out of action on Wednesday, topped the times with a 1m25.706s in the closing stages.

Trident drivers Antonio Fuoco and Alesi were within 0.004s and 0.006s of King. Ferrari simulator driver Fuoco spent a second day in the car that was driven on the opening day by Ralph Boschung.

Deletraz was the next-quickest driver, two seconds off King’s time.

The day was punctuated by a number of red flags. Schumacher followed Gelael and Nikita Mazepin in causing stoppages during the morning session, with Mazepin also causing one of three further red flags during the afternoon.

Combined day three times