Hauger quickest on rain-affected first day of Sakhir pre-season testing

It was a day of firsts as Formula 2 kicked off pre-season testing in Sakhir with the new 2024 car. Dennis Hauger topped the first test session of the year, setting a 1:53.175 for MP Motorsport to end up fastest of all on a day dominated by rain.

Zane Maloney was best of the rest for Rodin Motorsport, 0.176s down on the top effort while Victor Martins rounded out the top three for ART Grand Prix.

DAY 1

The new era of Formula 2 began under floodlights and rainy skies as Juan Manuel Correa headed out first in the DAMS Lucas Oil #8 car. He was followed out by the rest for installation laps, but it the first Red Flag waved interrupted the early running.

PHM AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard came to a halt at Turn 4 with just under half an hour of running bringing about a brief pause before the session got back underway once again.

MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger led the way after the first hour on a 1:53.720 on the wet Pirelli tyres, followed by Zak O’Sullivan, who was 0.187s down in P2.

Victor Martins was next to go to the top of the times, but Hauger was quick to respond and restored his advantage, going P1 and improving onto a 1:53.175.

Just as the track had started to dry, torrential rain arrived ahead of the halfway stage and all drivers returned to their garages as the deluge came down.

Into the final hour and several drivers returned to the track with the surface drying slowly but surely, though there were no substantial improvements in laptime.

That was until Antonelli bettered his quickest effort to go third-fastest for PREMA Racing as the session entered the final half hour, while Zane Maloney went fourth in his Rodin Motorsport #5. The Bajan driver went quicker still on his next fast lap, going to within 0.176s of Hauger to move up to P2.

With 11 minutes to go, the second Red Flag of the day arrived as Martins came to a stop at Turn 10 in the closing stages of the session.

There was enough time for one final flurry of action, but Hauger’s earlier effort remained unbeaten by the time the chequered flag fell.

2024 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP - SAKHIR PRE-SEASON TESTING, DAY 1 CLASSIFICATION