F2 got underway for Free Practice at one of the most highly anticipated weekends on the Formula 2 calendar, the British GP, Victor Martins topped the timings with a 1:41.699.
Last time out in Austria, Richard Verschoor took the Feature Race win and, with Alex Dunne’s disqualification, the championship lead. With 24 points between them. Everything is still to play for, and both drivers need a perfect weekend to fight for the lead.
The single practice session is the only chance drivers get to get a feel for the track and the car set-up before heading into qualifying in the afternoon.
Early laps
Sebastian Montoya led the grid onto the track, being the first driver to put in a push lap. He crossed the line with a 1:43.160 with Victor Martins ART crossing the line just one hundredth behind.
The key to avoiding incident in the free practice session is building up the pace with each lap and not risking pushing too hard, too early. Silverstone is a unique track with his fast flowing corners which makes it tricky for drivers to get right.
Montoya pushed harder on his second fast lap with a 1:42.465 putting a 0.8 second gap to those behind him. However, the gap didn’t last long as Victor Martins crossed the line again to take the lead with a 1:42.393.
Kush Maini in the DAMS Lucas Oil managed a 1:42.402, slipping into second. Times began to fall as the track wore in. Meguetounif took the top spot with a 1:42.369. With Martins, Maini and Montoya all within 0.1 tenth of the TRIDENT in the lead.
As the drivers were starting to get their footing, bringing down the times as they gained confidence, Villagomez lost the rear of his Van Amersfoort at Vale and took a run into the gravel. Unfortunately, a red flag waved as the car was stuck in the gravel.
As the red flag waved and action halted, Arvid Lindblad sat in ninth place. The Briton will trade his F2 car for the Red Bull F1 car for the first time ever in FP1. Before jumping back into the F2 car for qualifying. This comes as all eyes have been on Lindblad receiving his super licence and finding himself in the conversation for a potential F1 seat.
Green flag
The session resumed with 16 minutes left on the clock. Nine different teams were in the top ten as the halfway mark of the session was reached. Drivers were eager to get back on track.
Once again, times were expected to fall in the closing stages of the session. Dunne embarked on a lap, hoping to move up from 13th. While Dunne was on his fast lap, Browning took the top spot with a 1:42.324.
Dunne managed a personal best in the first sector. Although, as he looked to take the top spot, he suffered a snap in the rear into the final corner and crossed the line second. Browning’s lead was short-lived as Victor Martins took the line with a 1:42.317, just 0.007 ahead of Browning.
While the fight at the top was tight, one of the home heroes, Luke Browning, was determined to take the top spot. In the first sector, he managed the fastest time of the session. The second saw a personal best and as he crossed the line he took the top spot with a 1:41.750.
Once again, Martins crossed the line to slot in second, just 0.056 seconds behind the Brit. However, as the times fell the order was shifting with Montoya in third and Goethe in fourth. Dunne, slipping all the way back to seventh.
Final five minutes
Into the final five minutes of the session, drivers hoped to find any extra lap time on track. Alex Dunne struggled, suffering a massive lock-up on his McLaren liveried car.
The PREMA of Montoya once again looked primed to take a top spot in the session. While Crawford managed a purple sector one, Montoya crossed the line only able to put himself fourth. Although, closing the gap.
Crawford lap was a blinder, with a purple sector two as disaster hit for the American, suffering a lock-up into the final corners. Leaving the DAMS Lucas Oil driver in third as the chequered flag was waved.
Alex Dunne was one of the final driver on track, with a messy first sector but improving rapidly in the second. Unfortunately, the third sector was another scruffy one for Dunne, and he missed out on any improvement.
Victor Martins ended the session in the lead with a 1:41.699, behind him was the Hitech of Browning and the DAMS of Crawford.
Full Results:
- V. Martins
- L. Browning
- J. Crawford
- D. Beganovic
- S. Montoya
- O. Goethe
- K. Maini
- R. Verschoor
- R. Miyata
- R. Stanek
- A. Dunne
- S. Meguetounif
- A. Lindblad
- L. Fornaroli
- J. Dürksen
- G. Minì
- M. Esterson
- J. Martí
- J. Bennett
- A. Cordeel
- C. Shields
- R. Villagomez
