2022 F2 Post-Season Test Roundup – Sport Grill

Roundup of 2022 FIA F2 Post-Season test at Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi.

This post-season test offered many teams a chance to experiment with new driver line-ups, whilst Oliver Bearman, Arthur Leclerc and Kush Maini officially got their first F2 experiences with their new teams ahead of making the step up from F3 next season.

Dennis Hauger and Enzo Fittipaldi meanwhile adapted to their new environment at MP Motorsport and Carlin respectively, whilst Frederik Vesti and Clement Novalak reunited with their former F3 teams in PREMA and Trident respectively following confirmation of drives at both teams respectively in 2023.

Theo Pourchaire, Jack Doohan and Ralph Boschung continued to drive for ART GP, Virtuosi and Campos respectively across the three-day test, although Boschung has already confirmed he will remain with Campos next season but Pourchaire and Doohan’s plans remain yet to be finalised.

Each day of the test also were split into three-hour morning and afternoon sessions with a two-hour lunch-break in-between each session.

Day One

A quiet start to the post-season test saw Boschung set a benchmark lap time of 1m 37.820 in the opening half-hour, only for times to soon tumble as everyone else finally decided to deliver a flurry of fast laps.

Hauger eventually set the fastest lap of the morning session with 1m 36.821 before three separate red flag incidents disrupted the final 90 minutes of the morning session, with the Norwegian heading into the lunch break fastest from Jack Doohan and VAR’s Richard Verschoor.

Carlin’s Fittipaldi and F2 rookie – Kush Maini who is driving for Campos next season both grinded to a halt on track in separate stoppages, whilst Charouz’s Brad Benavides tagged a wall and consequently ended his morning running early.

Verschoor then was first out on track for the afternoon session but it was Hauger who again set the pace and lowered the fastest lap time to just 0.008 seconds slower than his morning effort, prior to a red flag with 47 minutes left as Hitech GP’s Jak Crawford spun off at Turn 2.

Once Crawford’s car was removed and the green flag resumed, several drivers opted for Qualifying simulations with Verschoor winding up fastest overall on Day One with 1m 36.395 ahead of PREMA’s Vesti and Bearman.

Everyone bar the following six drivers all eventually set their fastest lap time in the afternoon session; Doohan, Amaury Cordeel, Fittipaldi, Zane Maloney, Boschung and Rafael Villagomez.

Doohan though managed to complete more laps in total than any other driver on the opening day of testing, having produced 100 laps across both sessions combined.

Day Two

Like in the Afternoon session of Day One, everyone flew straight out of the box in the morning session with Roy Nissany, Theo Pourchaire and Ayumu setting the initial pace, until Jehan Daruvala unleashed a soft-tyre run to lower the benchmark to 1m 36.160.

ART GP’s Victor Martins meanwhile brought out the red flag just 60 minutes into the early session after he crashed at Turn 16, which caused a lengthy delay due to barrier repairs needing to be completed.

Once the session resumed, only Doohan was able to beat Daruvala’s lap time as he posted 1m 35.990 to set what ultimately was the day’s overall fastest lap time ahead of Daruvala and Iwasa.

Attention in the afternoon sessions switched to long-run race simulations which Vesti dominated with 1m 36.462 to go tenth on the overall timesheet for Day Two, as he, Bearman and DAMS’ Arthur Leclerc were only drivers to set their fastest laps in the afternoon session.

There was only one red flag during the race simulations as Doohan and Maini collided at Turn 9, whilst Juan Manuel Correa and Pourchaire registered the most laps in total, having managed 103 laps apiece.

Manuel Correa though had replaced Rafael Villagomez at VAR after the Mexican sat the second day out, but returned for the final day of testing as Verschoor ended his post-season test early.

Day Three

After enjoying a solid two days of running to a set programme, 2022 F3 champion – Victor Martins finally showed his raw speed as he quickly set the initial pace of 1m 36.372 until he was bettered by Roy Nissany, who posted 1m 35.978 for Charouz to go fastest.

Bearman meanwhile caused the only stoppage of the morning session after he hit the barriers at Turn 13 to bring out the red flags just one hour into the session.

Once the session resumed, several drivers focused on their qualifying simulations with Martins eventually emerging fastest, as he posted 1m 35.908 to top the timesheets from Doohan and Pourchaire with everyone except Rafael Villagomez and Frederik Vesti setting their fastest laps in the morning.

After the final lunch break of the three-day test, teams largely focused on final data gathering exercises and pit-stop practice for 2022, with Trident’s Clement Novalak setting the pace with 1m 37.292 ahead of his rivals.

Carlin’s Zane Maloney caused the first stoppage of the afternoon session after he tapped the barriers at Turn 14, before Nissany grinded to a halt on the back straight with 11 minutes left to cause the second and final red flag of the afternoon.

Campos’ Kush Maini meanwhile proceeded to take advantage of the first red flag as he opted for a quick flier, and posted 1m 36.875 to finish the afternoon session on top, ahead of Villagomez but nobody could get close to the lap times posted in the morning session.

F2 will now take a winter break ahead of the 2023 season, which gets underway with a three-day pre-season test at Bahrain International Circuit across 14-16 February.