Mazepin impresses in Barcelona testing

No fewer than five FIA Formula 2 drivers took part in Barcelona testing this week, with three of those making their F1 debuts.

Callum Ilott hopped into an Alfa Romeo for the first time, Nikita Mazepin swapped his ART machine for a Mercedes and Sergio Sette Camara got his hands on a McLaren. Meanwhile, Nicholas Latifi continued his association with Williams and Jack Aitken got back into a Renault.

We take a look at the how the quintet got on.

Callum Ilott

The Ferrari junior was making his debut in an F1 car with Alfa Romeo and actually managed to beat Latifi’s time on Day 1, racing round the track in 1.19:819 on Tuesday. Despite his impressive speed, Ilott’s debut would end in frustration when he crashed on the outside of Turn 3 and was forced to finish his day early, after 41 laps.

Ilott told Alfa Romeo Racing: “Right from the start I felt quite comfortable and could steadily improve the performance, but then I lost it in Turn 3 – not exactly the way I imagined my first day in an F1 car to end. Still a great learning experience for me and I’m very grateful to Alfa Romeo Racing for having been given this opportunity.”

Jack Aitken

Aitken posted the sixth best time of Day 2, after swapping places with Nico Hulkenberg in the Renault. He lapped the circuit in 1.17:621 as the French team focused on testing development parts, notching 75 laps.

Speaking to Renault F1, Aitken assessed: “We got the most important things done and completed some positive running within our planned programme. We’ve learnt a lot today and we have some homework to do now before Monaco.”

Nicholas Latifi

Championship leader Nicholas Latifi was one of two FIA Formula 2 drivers to get their hands on the wheel of an F1 car on Tuesday, as a test driver for Williams. The Canadian clocked in an impressive 133 laps – the most of any driver on Day 1. He lapped The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya at 1.15:511. The 24-year-old was back out for Williams on Day 2 and scored the ninth best time overall, posting a further 88 laps.

Latifi told williamsf1.com: “Day two from a driver’s point of view was more interesting than day one. I got to trial some of the softer compound of tyres, I used the C3, C4 and C5 which is fun to push a bit more. Overall, I am pleased with the two days of testing and I look forward to my next outing with the team.”

Nikita Mazepin

The most successful of the F2 testers, Nikita Mazepin produced a storm in Barcelona testing, although admittedly he was in the seat of the powerful Mercedes machine. Regardless, the Russian was pretty much flawless on Day 2, having taken over from Valteri Bottas. Posting the fastest time of the day, the 20-year-old roared around the The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in just 1:15.775 - the quickest of the session by 1.3s. The ART rookie also clocked up the highest laps of any driver on Wednesday, with 128 and was only quarter of a second off Bottas’ best time on the same compounds. Not bad for a debut.

Mazepin told Mercedes F1: "Today was incredible. Being a part of this team, even just for this day was very special for me. It’s every young driver’s dream to drive a car like this and today mine came true, so I’m really happy. Everyone in the team is working so hard and you can feel that when you sit in this car."

Sergio Sette Camara

The young Brazilian made his debut for McLaren on the second day of Barcelona testing, as he took over from Oliver Turvey in the afternoon. His day was unfortunately ended early when he stopped on the run to Turn 10 and didn’t return. However, he still posted a time of 1.21:565 on the harder C2 compounds.

The Brazilian told McLaren F1: “Driving the McLaren Formula 1 car was an amazing opportunity for me today. I was able to learn some new procedures, see how the car felt and do a few flying laps.”