Formula 2 News: Isack Hadjar sets early pace in Austria

Isack Hadjar was fastest of all in the Formula 2 Spielberg Free Practice session, after he completed a lap of 1:16.441 to set the pace ahead of Qualifying later today.

The Campos Racing driver was over two-tenths clear out front of Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron in second and DAMS Lucas Oil’s Jak Crawford in third.

It was PREMA Racing’s Oliver Bearman that led the way early on though, thanks to a time of 1:17.011, putting him 0.076s clear of MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger in second.

The fastest time continued to change hands and next to top the timesheets was Paul Aron. The Hitech driver’s time of 1:16.680 put him two-tenths in front of ART Grands Prix Victor Martins.

Fresh from his Feature Race victory in Barcelona, Crawford looked to be continuing that fine form as he went up to second, 0.162s off Aron’s leading time.

The Red Flags were waved moments later after AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard pulled over to the side of the road on the main straight.

With the track clear, the session returned to green flag conditions and Crawford once again improved on his best effort, this time moving to within 0.082s off Aron out front.

Campos’ Hadjar then took over at the top of the leaderboard on a 1:16.624, eclipsing Aron’s time by just 0.056s. The Frenchman then extended his lead out front on his next flying effort, this time setting a lap of 1:16.441.

As the session entered into the final 10 minutes, Barnard and AIX had recovered from their earlier stoppage and returned to the track, as the Briton settled into P19.

But no one could improve late on, leaving Hadjar with the fastest time ahead of Aron and Crawford with Hauger in fourth. Martins wound up fifth ahead of Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi.

Joshua Duerksen was eighth fastest for AIX Racing, with Bearman in ninth as Trident’s Roman Stanek rounded out the top 10.

The drivers and their teams will now look over the data ahead of Qualifying which is set to take place at 14:55 local time later today.

Austria Formula 2 Practice Results