Delétraz continues hot form on Day 2 of testing

Louis Delétraz led post-season testing in Abu Dhabi for the second day in a row, as the experienced Swiss racer continues to revel in Charouz machinery.

 

There were just two changes to the field for the second day of testing, as Ralph Boschung took a turn in the MP Motorsport and Roy Nissany tried out the Trident.

 

With 20 minutes gone, it was a similar story to the morning of testing on Day 1, as Mick Schumacher put in a series of fast laps to top the table, setting the benchmark at 1:51.308. Delétraz was swiftly back on top though, as he smashed the fastest time from the first day to leap above the German.

 

Callum Ilott followed suit in the UNI-Virtuosi, as he matched Delétraz’ time of 1:50.461 exactly, to prop him up in first. Marcus Armstrong has had no trouble making the leap from Formula 3 so far, as the ART Grand Prix ace topped the times for the second time in as many days, leaping above Delétraz and Ilott.

 

Mazepin was running fourth, and also faster than on Day 1, when his Carlin machine stopped on track and brought out a fleeting red flag. The session got underway once more with 50 minutes to go, but no one would better Armstrong before lunch. Delétraz, Ilott, Mazepin and Guanyu Zhou completed the top five. Boschung was sixth on his return to F2, ahead of Shwartzman, Daniel Ticktum, Felipe Drugovich and Christian Lundgaard.

 

The afternoon stint was much more focused on long-runs, as the drivers divided 682 laps between them. Giuliano Alesi led for the first hour in his new BWT HWA RACELAB machine, before Drugovich and Boschung both took turns with the MP Motorsport.

 

Shwartzman enjoyed his first spell at the top of the leaderboard when he broke the 1m 52s barrier with two and a half hours of the afternoon to go. The F3 Champ led for all but five minutes of the remaining time, as Delétraz stole the show for the second day in a row.

 

Leaving it late once again, the Charouz racer beat Shwartzman’s time by 0.052s to run home first. That left the Russian to settle for second, ahead of Mazepin, Piquet and Boschung. Drugovich, Yuki Tsunoda, Artem Markelov, Alesi and Marino Sato completed the top 10.

 

The last day of testing begins tomorrow at 9am (local time), when Delétraz will attempt to make it a hat-trick and top all three days.

 

2019 FIA Formula 2 Championship – Post-season tests, Day 2, morning session

Pos.	Driver	Team	Laptime	Laps
1	Marcus Armstrong	ART Grand Prix	01:50.4	40
2	Louis Delétraz	Charouz Racing System	01:50.5	39
3	Callum Ilott	UNI-Virtuosi	01:50.5	25
4	Nikita Mazepin	Carlin	01:50.5	22
5	Guanyu Zhou	UNI-Virtuosi	01:50.6	42
6	Ralph Boschung	MP Motorsport	01:50.6	32
7	Robert Shwartzman	PREMA Racing	01:50.8	31
8	Dan Ticktum	DAMS	01:50.8	27
9	Felipe Drugovich	MP Motorsport	01:50.8	37
10	Christian Lundgaard	ART Grand Prix	01:50.9	36
11	Mick Schumacher	PREMA Racing	01:50.9	12
12	Niko Kari	Campos Racing	01:51.0	30
13	Yuki Tsunoda	Carlin	01:51.2	36
14	Artem Markelov	BWT HWA RACELAB	01:51.2	23
15	Giuliano Alesi	BWT HWA RACELAB	01:51.3	27
16	Sean Gelael	DAMS	01:51.3	24
17	Pedro Piquet	Charouz Racing System	01:51.5	45
18	Roy Nissany	Trident	01:52.0	36
19	Marino Sato	Trident	01:52.0	38
20	Guilherme Samaia	Campos Racing	01:52.3	35