PREMA Racing rookie Oliver Bearman maximised a drying Jerez circuit to finish fastest by more than six tenths on the first day of in-season testing with a lap of 1:40.202.
The British Ferrari junior led an all-rookie top three, beating Campos Racing’s Josep María Martí and Trident’s Zane Maloney in a mostly wet session.
Bearman’s teammate Arthur Leclerc had set a 1:40.202 to go quickest during a rain-hampered morning session, with the Monegasque finishing with a healthy half a second margin over Trident’s Roman Staněk and Van Amersfoort’s Franco Colapinto.
MORNING
Few opted to brave the conditions when the lights went green on a wet and windy morning at Jerez, with the majority of the grid only completing an installation lap.
As the rain began to ease, the field headed out for some flying laps and Hitech Grand Prix’s Isack Hadjar set the baseline time, with a 1:46.213, ahead of Carlin’s Zak O’Sullivan and Hitech’s Kaylen Frederick.
Those below Hadjar chopped and changed, but the Frenchman retained his place for the majority of the session, beating his own time with a 1:42.047. However, it was the 18-year-old who caused the session’s only red flag, with his Hitech coming to a stop on the gravel.
This allowed Caio Collet to take his place at the top of the leaderboard, with the MP Motorsport driver dipping below 1m 42s. The Brazilian was slowly bumped down the order and out of the top 10, though, as Leclerc set a 1:40.202 to end the session as the clear leader on top.
Staněk was more than half a second off first, finishing in P2 with a 1:40.731. Less than a tenth separated second from eighth, with Franco Colapinto 0.031s off the Czech driver.
ART Grand Prix pairing Gregoire Saucy and Victor Martins were fourth and fifth, 0.073s and 0.003s further back.
PREMA Racing’s Jak Crawford was sixth, ahead of Martí and Jenzer Motorsport’s William Alatalo. After leading for much of the morning, Hadjar ended in ninth, ahead of Maloney. Hunter Yeany didn’t make it back to the pitlane after the chequered flag, as the Campos Racing driver pulled up at Turn 8.
AFTERNOON
The heavens opened again during the break and the field resisted the urge to get straight back at it on a particularly soggy circuit when the second session began.
When the tarmac began to get some use, Arthur Leclerc dropped a 1:43.790 to set the benchmark ahead of Caio Collet and Victor Martins, with all three improving to under 1m 43s to retain their positions.
However, Collet wouldn’t get the chance to improve any further as the MP Motorsport driver stopped at Turn 4 and brought out a Red Flag.
With the track drying, the times started to plummet during a busy final 30 minutes as the field chucked on their slick tyres and got their first opportunity at a fast lap.
Victor Martins, Roman Staněk, Oliver Rasmussen, Arthur Leclerc and Oliver Bearman all shared P1 between them, as the times edged below 1m 35s for the first time in Jerez. It was Bearman who came out on top at the chequered flag, with the PREMA racer setting an unrivalled 1:33.009.
The next quickest driver was 0.657s off, as Marti claimed P2 for Campos ahead of Maloney. Despite briefly leading, Martins and Leclerc ended in fourth and fifth, respectively.
Juan Manuel Correa broke into the top 10 in the final 10 minutes to beat Crawford to sixth, while Rasmussen ended up eighth on his debut for Trident, ahead of Saucy and Vidales.
The second day of testing at Jerez will begin tomorrow at 9am local time.
