Richard Verschoor ended fastest of all at the wheel of the Van Amersfoort Racing car, on the opening day of post-season testing at the Yas Marina Circuit. He beat PREMA Racing’s duo of Frederik Vesti and Oliver Bearman, with a time of 1:36.395.

In the morning session, it was MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger who claimed the top spot, with a time of 1:36.821, and he remained competitive throughout the afternoon.

Benefitting from the cooler track temperatures as the afternoon session drew to a close, Verschoor’s personal best was part of a series of late improvements, and he ended the day 0.003s clear of Vesti.

MORNING

It was a bright and early start for the field at the Yas Marina Circuit. Having already signed on for the 2023 season with Campos Racing, Ralph Boschung set the initial benchmark of a 1:37.820 during a relatively quiet opening 30 minutes.

As the track became a hive of action, this season’s final pole-sitter and Feature Race winner Ayumu Iwasa put DAMS on top, going nearly a tenth quicker than Boschung. The Japanese ace‘s time was then bettered by Jack Doohan and Vesti, before Hauger became the first driver to break into the 1:36s.

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There were three Red Flag appearances during the final hour and a half of the opening session. Enzo Fittipaldi for Carlin and Campos’ Kush Maini stopped on track in separate incidents but were both able to continue their run programmes later. Brad Benavides, testing for Charouz Racing System, tagged the wall and didn’t resume running in the morning segment.

Hauger’s 1:36.821 remained unbeaten up to the chequered flag. Doohan finished second, only 0.085 down the MP driver, while Verschoor completed the top 3. In the Virtuosi Racing car, Doohan achieved a total of 41 laps – the most of anyone in the morning session.

The second Virtuosi driven by Amaury Cordeel finished fourth, ahead of 2022 Formula 3 Champion Victor Martins for ART Grand Prix and Fittipaldi. Roman Stanek closed his first F2 experience with Trident in seventh position with Iwasa, Vesti and Théo Pourchaire rounding out the top 10 times.

AFTERNOON

Straight out of the blocks at the green flag, Verschoor led the field out for the second session of the day. However, it was Maini who shot to first, posting a 1:38.567, before improving on his own time by over a second.

Picking up where he left off in the morning, Hauger set a 1:37.309 to go two-tenths clear of the Indian rookie, before Stanek came to a halt, bringing out an early Red Flag within the opening hour.

Jehan Daruvala improved to make it an MP 1-2 at the top of the timing sheets, as Vesti slotted into third. Meanwhile, Roy Nissany was keeping busy as he reached over 30 laps by mid-session.

Cooler temperatures allowed for a flurry of late improvements. Firstly, Hauger continued to better his own time with a 1:36.829, followed by a 1:36.593 to retain the quickest time of the session. In his maiden F2 outing for PREMA, Bearman moved up to second with a 1:37.128 before being leapfrogged by teammate Vesti.

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The session was interrupted by another Red Flag period, with 47 minutes remaining, as Jak Crawford, testing for Hitech Grand Prix, spun into the barriers at Turn 2.

Returning to green flag conditions with just under half an hour to go, personal best times tumbled. The ART duo of Martins and Pourchaire moved inside the top six momentarily, before being usurped by Trident’s Clément Novalak and Stanek. However, the Czech driver wasn’t done yet, joining Hauger in the 1:36s and trading the P2 spot with Pourchaire and Iwasa.

In the final 10 minutes, Hauger was bumped down by Verschoor, who set a 1:36.395 to go quickest of all. Vesti and Bearman slotted into second and third places respectively at the chequered flag. Iwasa finished fifth, with Pourchaire, Maini, Stanek, Martins and DAMS’ Arthur Leclerc completing the top 10.

Testing will resume at 9AM local time on Thursday. We will see a driver change as Verschoor moves across to drive the #25 Van Amersfoort Racing car. He will be joined by Juan Manuel Correa who will pilot car #24.

2022 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP - YAS MARINA POST-SEASON TEST, DAY 1, MORNING SESSION

DRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS
1Dennis HaugerMP Motorsport1:36.82128
2Jack DoohanVirtuosi Racing1:36.90641
3Richard VerschoorVan Amersfoort Racing1:36.92428
4Amaury CordeelVirtuosi Racing1:36.94136
5Victor MartinsART Grand Prix1:36.98736
6Enzo FittipaldiCarlin1:36.99729
7Roman StanekTrident1:47.01825
8Ayumu IwasaDAMS1:37.15922
9Frederik VestiPREMA Racing1:37.22533
10Théo PourchaireART Grand Prix1:37.26432
11Clément NovalakTrident1:37.36122
12Jehan DaruvalaMP Motorsport1:37.37129
13Roy NissanyCharouz Racing1:37.60532
14Arthur LeclercDAMS1:37.61933
15Zane MaloneyCarlin1:37.67830
16Oliver BearmanPREMA Racing1:37.73033
17Ralph BoschungCampos Racing1:37.82028
18Kush MainiCampos Racing1:37.98220
19Rafael VillagómezVan Amersfoort Racing1:38.16032
20Brad BenavidesCharouz Racing System1:38.89320
21Isack HadjarHitech Grand Prix1:39.2758
22Jak CrawfordHitech Grand Prix1:39.69425

2022 FIA FORMULA 2 CHAMPIONSHIP - YAS MARINA POST-SEASON TEST, DAY 1, AFTERNOON SESSION

DRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS
1Richard VerschoorVan Amersfoort Racing1:36.39546
2Frederik VestiPREMA Racing1:36.39832
3Oliver BearmanPREMA Racing1:36.55831
4Dennis HaugerMP Motorsport1:36.57429
5Ayumu IwasaDAMS1:36.77334
6Théo PourchaireART Grand Prix1:36.84414
7Kush MainiCampos Racing1:36.90134
8Roman StanekTrident1:36.92340
9Victor MartinsART Grand Prix1:36.96621
10Arthur LeclercDAMS1:37.06738
11Jehan DaruvalaMP Motorsport1:37.14230
12Clément NovalakTrident1:37.14337
13Amaury CordeelVirtuosi Racing1:37.17650
14Roy NissanyCharouz Racing System1:37.22945
15Brad BenavidesCharouz Racing System1:37.87835
16Isack HadjarHitech Grand Prix1:38.14838
17Rafael VillagómezVan Amersfoort Racing1:38.82533
18Ralph BoschungCampos Racing1:38.94037
19Jack DoohanVirtuosi Racing1:38.95559
20Zane MaloneyCarlin1:39.52848
21Jak CrawfordHitech Grand Prix1:39.52918
22Enzo FittipaldiCarlin1:39.57350