Lawson leads the way on Day 2 of F3 testing

Liam Lawson
Liam Lawson

Liam Lawson put Hitech Grand Prix at the top of the standings for the second day of pre- season testing, with the Kiwi continuing to impress in his new surroundings, having made the switch from MP Motorsport. Clement Novalak came in at second, as Alex Peroni – who impressed with P2 yesterday – completed the top three.

There was a much dustier and drier feeling to the air on day two of pre-season testing, with extremely windy conditions, as the field began their installation laps of the Bahrain International Circuit. Sebastián Fernandez and Sophia Florsch were amongst the first to enjoy a spot at the top of the times, as they showed initial flashes of speed.

Theo Pourchaire followed suit in the second ART and set the morning benchmark at 1:48.714. The Frenchman put in seven laps prior to the 20-minute mark, before heading back to the pits to discuss the data discovered from his runs.

Fernandez reclaimed the fastest lap from his teammate shortly before a brief pause in action, when Matteo Nannini stopped on track and brought out a red flag. Fernandez was propped up by Carlin Buzz rookie Novalak and ART teammate Pourchaire.

David Schumacher
David Schumacher

David Schumacher spent the majority of Day 1 around the midfield of the running order, but seemed much more settled on the second day, as he emerged in first with a time of 1m 47s with 45 minutes to go. The German wasn’t be budged from top spot and finished ahead of Fernandez and Niko Kari.

Nannini was one of 18 cars to hit the track straight away in the afternoon session, and the quickest too, with the Italian racer heading up a front trio with Peroni and Frederik Vesti.

Jake Hughes joined the field for the first time in testing, having missed the first day and half due to prior commitments, and was immediately quick.

In a similar fashion to Day 1, Hitech duo Lawson and Max Fewtrell flicked their pace on

like a switch and leapt to P1 and P2 with their first fast runs of the afternoon. The Kiwi spent a bulk of time at the top of the table, before being overtaken by Nannini, as the

Jenzer racer returned to the top.

With half an hour to go, the laptimes began to fly in. Pourchaire, Fernandez, and Devlin DeFrancesco all thundered round for fast laps, before Hughes once again took his turn at the summit, with a time of 1:47.200. The Briton was well and truly back in the swing of things, as he searched for ways to push both himself and HWA on in their second season in F3.

Novalak and Peroni followed this up with fast times of their own, as they overtook Hughes in the table with times beneath the 1m 47s mark. Lawson was able to fight his way back up to first, as the competitiveness increased and dropped below those set on Day 1.

The session was brought to a halt as Kari stopped on track, with too little time left to resume testing. That confirmed Lawson as the day’s fastest man, ahead of Novalak, Peroni, Logan Sargeant and Dennis Hauger. Completing the top ten were Oscar Piastri, Hughes, Pourchaire, Fernandez and DeFrancesco.

The field will have one final time to test out the cars before the start of the 2020 campaign tomorrow, on the final day of pre-season testing, starting at 9am.

AM Times

POS DRIVER TEAM TIME LAPS
1 David Schumacher Charouz Racing System 1:47.461 30
2 Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix 1:47.482 30
3 Niko Kari Charouz Racing System 1:47.630 40
4 Lirim Zendeli Trident 1:47.659 28
5 Clement Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing 1:47.689 33
6 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1:47.790 30
7 Logan Sargeant PREMA Racing 1:47.793 31
8 Oscar Piastri PREMA Racing 1:47.838 30
9 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 1:47.933 26
10 Devlin DeFrancesco Trident 1:48.007 19
11 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1:48.021 31
12 Sophia Floersch Campos Racing 1:48.065 22
13 Frederik Vesti PREMA Racing 1:48.133 30
14 Alexander Smolyar ART Grand Prix 1:48.155 28
15 Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System 1:48.170 35
16 Max Fewtrell Hitech Grand Prix 1:48.184 29
17 Enaam Ahmed Carlin Buzz Racing 1:48.253 30
18 Olli Caldwell Trident 1:48.358 21
19 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA RACELAB 1:48.461 45
20 Cameron Das Carlin Buzz Racing 1:48.568 31
21 Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport 1:48.593 28
22 Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport 1:48.599 30
23 Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport 1:48.602 30
24 Dennis Hauger Hitech Grand Prix 1:48.669 29
25 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing 1:48.915 30
26 Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport 1:48.929 29
27 Jack Doohan HWA RACELAB 1:49.135 39
28 Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport 1:49.415 20
29 Alexander Peroni Campos Racing 1:49.838 15

PM Times

POS DRIVER TEAM TIME LAPS
1 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1:46.365 25
2 Clement Novalak Carlin Buzz Racing 1:46.884 35
3 Alexander Peroni Campos Racing 1:46.902 37
4 Logan Sargeant PREMA Racing 1:46.936 38
5 Dennis Hauger Hitech Grand Prix 1:47.068 27
6 Oscar Piastri PREMA Racing 1:47.090 36
7 Jake Hughes HWA RACELAB 1:47.200 44
8 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1:47.201 28
9 Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix 1:47.261 35
10 Devlin DeFrancesco Trident 1:47.264 34
11 Max Fewtrell Hitech Grand Prix 1:47.339 27
12 Sophia Floersch Campos Racing 1:47.436 33
13 Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport 1:47.533 25
14 Enzo Fittipaldi HWA RACELAB 1:47.538 35
15 Olli Caldwell Trident 1:47.690 38
16 Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport 1:47.763 26
17 Jack Doohan HWA RACELAB 1:47.781 38
18 Frederik Vesti PREMA Racing 1:47.798 32
19 Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport 1:47.908 33
20 Cameron Das Carlin Buzz Racing 1:47.996 28
21 Enaam Ahmed Carlin Buzz Racing 1:48.324 23
22 Alessio Deledda Campos Racing 1:48.983 34
23 Niko Kari Charouz Racing System 1:50.866 41
24 Lirim Zendeli Trident 1:51.070 36
25 David Schumacher Charouz Racing System 1:51.076 41
26 Alexander Smolyar ART Grand Prix 1:51.120 19
27 Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System 1:51.134 32
28 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 1:51.204 35
29 Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport 1:51.304 35
30 Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport 1:51.721 35