F2 2020: Austrian GP – Friday

Formula Two began its 2020 season in brilliant fashion as several rookies instantly impressed, although it was Uni Virtuosi’s Guanyu Zhou who secured pole for Saturday’s Austrian Feature Race.

Rookie, Yuki Tsunoda meanwhile topped practice whilst Felipe Drugovich and Christian Lundgaard were amongst other rookies who impressed, as we round up the key details of Friday’s F2 action. 

 

Practice

Louis Deletraz led the 2020 gang out on track in the opening practice session of this season, which saw everyone need a couple of warm up laps whilst Hitech’s Nikita Mazepin was wheeled back into the paddock with an issue.

Campos’ Jack Aitken set the pace with a 1m 18.290 before various drivers traded fastest laps over the following ten minutes, culminating in MP Motorsport rookie – Felipe Drugovich going quickest with a 1m 16.054.

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Renault Junior, Guanyu Zhou then pulled out a stunning 1m 15.507 to go fastest, which was quickly surpassed by ART GP’s Marcus Armstrong with a 1m 15.405 until Tsunoda snatched the fastest time seven minutes later with a 1m 15.249.

Luca Ghiotto put F2 newcomers, Hitech Grand Prix in second place just 0.054s behind, with Armstrong, Zhou and Christian Lundgaard rounding out the top five.

Marino Sato meanwhile caused a five-minute red flag as teams begun their race simulations, beaching his Trident in the gravel after finding himself in a spin. 

Nobuharu Matsushita meanwhile had a near miss on entry to the penultimate corner after the restart, when he had to run wide to avoid the slower Guilherme Samaia in a Campos. 

 

Qualifying

Mazepin was straight out on track once the light went green as he looked to make up for a missed practice session, banking the first flier of a 1m 16.908 as several drivers opted for two warm up laps. 

Tsunoda and Zhou then traded fastest laps in a frantic few minutes which eventually saw the top five of Zhou, Jehan Daruvala, Deletraz, Tsunoda and Ticktum split by just 0.414s as drivers pitted to prepare for their final runs. 

Matsushita however stayed out to try and bank in a flier on a quiet track but could only manage improve time before returning to prepare for his second run.

Sean Gelael eventually led the field back out for their final runs with ten minutes remaining, as the majority opted for two warm up laps, as Felipe Drugovich leapt up to third after doing only one warm up lap. 

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Sato however would cause his second red flag of the day after spinning on exit of Turn Four to beach himself in the gravel with five minutes remaining of the session, although his car was swiftly cleared to allow a quick restart.

Lundgaard opted to try Drugovich’s one warm-up lap approach which paid dividends when he climbed to second with a 1m 14.922, before eventually being displaced by Drugovich then Callum Ilott as Zhou went even quicker with a pole time of 1m 14.416.

Zhou therefore will start on pole from Drugovich, Ilott, Lundgaard, Mick Schumacher, Daruvala, Ghiotto, Robert Shwartzman, Ticktum and Deletraz.

 

Result

Practice

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Yuki Tsunoda	Carlin	1m 15.249
2	Luca Ghiotto	Hitech	1m 15.303
3	Marcus Armstrong	ART GP	1m 15.405
4	Guanyu Zhou	Uni Virtuosi	1m 15.468
5	Christian Lundgaard	ART GP	1m 15.509
6	Felipe Drugovich	MP Motorsport	1m 15.598
7	Robert Shwartzman	Prema	1m 15.702
8	Jehan Daruvala	Carlin	1m 15.718
9	Sean Gelael	DAMS	1m 15.928
10	Louis Deletraz	Charouz	1m 15.940
11	Dan Ticktum	DAMS	1m 16.015
12	Artem Markelov	HWA Racelab	1m 16.028
13	Giuliano Alesi	HWA Racelab	1m 16.174
14	Callum Ilott	Uni Virtuosi	1m 16.268
15	Nobuharu Matsushita	MP Motorsport	1m 16.334
16	Pedro Piquet	Charouz	1m 16.379
17	Roy Nissany	Trident	1m 16.514
18	Jack Aitken	Campos	1m 16.544
19	Mick Schumacher	Prema	1m 16.597
20	Guilherme Samaia	Campos	1m 16.894
21	Marino Sato	Trident	1m 16.905
22	Nikita Mazepin	Hitech	–

 

Qualifying

Position	Driver	Team	Time
1	Guanyu Zhou	Uni Virtuosi	1m 14.416
2	Felipe Drugovich	MP Motorsport	1m 14.880
3	Callum Ilott	Uni Virtuosi	1m 14.884
4	Christian Lundgaard	ART GP	1m 14.922
5	Mick Schumacher	Prema	1m 14.952
6	Jehan Daruvala	Carlin	1m 15.028
7	Luca Ghiotto	Hitech	1m 15.044
8	Robert Shwartzman	Prema	1m 15.051
9	Dan Ticktum	DAMS	1m 15.128
10	Louis Deletraz	Charouz	1m 15.151
11	Nikita Mazepin	Hitech	1m 15.152
12	Yuki Tsunoda	Carlin	1m 15.157
13	Marcus Armstrong	ART GP	1m 15.208
14	Jack Aitken	Campos	1m 15.264
15	Pedro Piquet	Charouz	1m 15.376
16	Roy Nissany	Trident	1m 15.457
17	Sean Gelael	DAMS	1m 15.604
18	Giuliano Alesi	HWA Racelab	1m 15.688
19	Guilherme Samaia	Campos	1m 15.703
20	Artem Markelov	HWA Racelab	1m 15.746
21	Nobuharu Matsushita	MP Motorsport	1m 15.897
22	Marino Sato	Trident	1m 16.011