Nyck de Vries quickest at Jerez

Nyck De Vries
Nyck De Vries

Nyck De Vries ended Day 1 of the first 2019 FIA Formula 2 pre-season test at Jerez de la Frontera as the fastest driver. The ART Grand Prix ace set the quickest laptime in both the morning and afternoon sessions to head the timesheets ahead of Nicholas Latifi and Mick Schumacher.

The sun greeted the teams as the pitlane opened on Day 1 of testing. Latifi was the first driver to hit the track for the DAMS team while the rest of the pack followed him closely for their customary installation laps.

The opening hour was very studious with Schumacher setting up the first laptime, but it was Louis Deletraz who topped the timesheets on the one hour mark in a1:27.779 ahead of Dorian Boccolacci, Nobuharu Matsushita, Schumacher and Sean Gelael.

The session was briefly red flagged after Sergio Sette Camara spun and stopped at Turn 1 and when the running got back underway, ten drivers had set a laptime. At the midway point, Callum Ilott went quickest in a 1:26.508, but Deletraz reclaimed the top spot with a laptime of a 1:26.217.

De Vries put first position with one hour left in the session: he clocked in a laptime of a 1:26.044 which was good enough to remain at the top of the standings until the checkered flag. Sette Camara slotted in behind the Dutchman in the dying minutes for second ahead of teammate Latifi. Luca

Ghiotto was fourth quickest ahead of Deletraz, Schumacher, Guanyu Zhou, Boccolacci, Ilott and Gelael.

The proceedings resumed two hours later with Deletraz the first man to dive onto the track but it was Ilott who set the early pace in a 1:26.573 ahead of teammate Juan Manuel Correa and Schumacher. There was a first red flag period after Jordan King stopped at Turn 14 following mechanical issues.

At the re-start, Schumacher went top thanks to a laptime four tenths better than Ilott’s whilst Ghiotto moved up to third. Halfway through the session, the Italian from UNI Virtuosi went one spot better in a 1:26.181 before the running was halted a second time courtesy of Correa who went wide and stopped at Turn 4.

With one hour left in the session, the pitlane went green one more time. De Vries put his head down and dipped under 1m26s to claim the top spot in a 1:25.973, but Ghiotto improved on the Dutchman’s time thirty minutes later.

In the closing stages, a final Red flag period quickly paused the proceedings after Gelael stopped at Turn 8. The track went live one last time and de Vries clocked in a laptime of 1:25.358 to top the afternoon session and the day overall ahead of Latifi ad Schumacher who also improved in the dying minutes. Ghiotto finished fourth ahead of Nikita Mazepin, Deletraz, Ilott, Giuliano Alesi, Sette Camara and Zhou.

Day 2 of testing will commence tomorrow at 09.00 local time.

FIA Formula 2 Jerez de la Frontera Test – Day 1 Morning Session*

Pos

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1

Nyck de Vries

ART Grand Prix

1:25.819

17

2

Sergio Sette Camara

DAMS

1:25.874

28

3

Nicholas Latifi

DAMS

1:25.964

34

4

Luca Ghiotto

UNI Virtuosi

1:26.082

21

5

Louis Deletraz

Carlin

1:26.217

28

6

Mick Schumacher

PREMA Racing

1:26.326

28

7

Guanyu Zhou

UNI Virtuosi

1:26.349

21

8

Dorian Boccolacci

Campos Racing

1:26.430

31

9

Callum Ilott

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:26.508

14

10

Sean Gelael

PREMA Racing

1:26.614

35

11

Richard Verschoor

MP Motorsport

1:26.657

25

12

Juan Manuel Correa

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:26.742

21

13

Giuliano Alesi

Trident

1:26.744

35

14

Jordan King

MP Motorsport

1:26.869

16

15

Anthoine Hubert

BWT Arden

1:26.908

25

16

Nikita Mazepin

ART Grand Prix

1:26.910

18

17

Jack Aitken

Campos Racing

1:27.027

33

18

Nobuharu Matsushita

Carlin

1:27.167

29

19

Ralph Boschung

Trident

1:27.244

20

*Car #18 (Tatiana Calderon) – All times deleted after the car was found underweight

FIA Formula 2 Jerez de la Frontera Test – Day 1 Afternoon Session

Pos

Driver

Team

Laptime

Laps

1

Nyck de Vries

ART Grand Prix

1:25.358

51

2

Nicholas Latifi

DAMS

1:25.727

41

3

Mick Schumacher

PREMA Racing

1:25.783

31

4

Luca Ghiotto

UNI Virtuosi

1:25.887

27

5

Nikita Mazepin

ART Grand Prix

1:26.230

48

6

Louis Deletraz

Carlin

1:26.512

38

7

Callum Ilott

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:26.573

40

8

Giuliano Alesi

Trident

1:26.577

41

9

Sergio Sette Camara

DAMS

1:26.579

36

10

Guanyu Zhou

UNI Virtuosi

1:26.593

23

11

Nobuharu Matsushita

Carlin

1:26.625

26

12

Sean Gelael

PREMA Racing

1:26.733

29

13

Juan Manuel Correa

Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

1:26.882

24

14

Ralph Boschung

Trident

1:27.076

14

15

Richard Verschoor

MP Motorsport

1:27.102

20

16

Jack Aitken

Campos Racing

1:27.227

24

17

Jordan King

MP Motorsport

1:27.317

11

18

Anthoine Hubert

BWT Arden

1:27.551

31

19

Tatiana Calderon

BWT Arden

1:28.515

33

20

Dorian Boccolacci

Campos Racing

1:28.903

26