Roundup of the 2023 F2 post-season test in Yas Marina, Abu Dhabi.
14 drivers from this seson participated in the test alongside nine rookies as teams began preparations for next season, with various drivers getting acquainted to their new teams for 2024 whilst others were assessed within teams yet to confirm their driver line-ups.
Oliver Bearman and Victor Martins alongside MP Motorsport’s retained pairing of Dennis Hauger and Franco Colapinto however focused on their development, with Bearman and Martins expected to remain at PREMA and ART GP respectively for title tilts.
Now, here is a full roundup from across all three days of the 2023 F2 post-season test.
Day One
A frantic start to the morning session saw seeveral cars head straight out onto the track but Trident’s Oliver Goethe grinded to a halt just before Turn 6, which caused the first red flag of the three-day test.
Once the morning session resumed DAMS’ Juan Manuel Correa set the initial benchmark time of 1m 38.388, before Goethe caused another red flag at Turn 14 followed by Enzo Fittipaldi at Turn 7 – albeit shortly after the session resumed following Goethe’s second red flag.
As the session resumed for a third time, DAMS’ Jak Crawford lowered the benchmark time to 1m 37.845 before he caused a fourth red flag, this time at Turn 8.
There were no further disruptions to the morning session in the final 110 minutes as times soon tumbled, with ART GP’s Victor Martins eventually fastest at the lunch break with 1m 36.852 ahead of Fittipaldi and Crawford.
The afternoon session began with rookies Ritomo Miyata and Paul Aron setting the pace in the opening hour with the latter top on 1m 37.555, until Campos’ Pepe Marti went quickest by just 0.026 seconds as many drivers focused on race simulations.
PREMA’s Oliver Bearman eventually moved top with 1m 37.316 with rookie teammate for 2024 – Andrea Kimi Antonelli just 0.090s down, although the Italian soon lost his time for exceeding track limits.
Bearman lowered his benchmark time to 1m 37.243 mid-way through the afternoon session but Virtuosi’s Gabriel Bortoleto went 0.133s quicker, before Martins displaced him with 1m 37.032 which he later lowered to 1m 36.986 with half a hour left.
Attention soon reverted to the single-lap runs and Bearman eventually set the fastest time of the day in representative track conditions, as he topped the timesheet with 1m 36.092 ahead of Antonelli and Martins.
Everyone except Franco Colapinto, Zane Maloney and Joshua Duerksen set their best lap times of the opening day in the afternoon session, with the trio’s fastest laps having been posted in the morning session.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | 1m 36.092 |
| 2 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | + 0.165 |
| 3 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.302 |
| 4 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.333 |
| 5 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | + 0.552 |
| 6 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | + 0.598 |
| 7 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | + 0.709 |
| 8 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | + 0.728 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | + 0.784 |
| 10 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | + 0.799 |
| 11 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | + 0.867 |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Virtuosi | + 0.952 |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 1.013 |
| 14 | Zane Maloney | Carlin | + 1.028 |
| 15 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | + 1.078 |
| 16 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 1.371 |
| 17 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.419 |
| 18 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | + 1.475 |
| 19 | Kush Maini | Virtuosi | + 1.552 |
| 20 | Ritomo Miyata | Carlin | + 1.704 |
| 21 | Joshua Duerksen | PHM Racing | + 2.076 |
| 22 | Joshua Mason | PHM Racing | + 2.080 |
Day Two
In a much smoother morning session, Maloney immediately set the early pace with consistent time within the 1m 36s, until Antonelli posted 1m 36.607 on medium tyres.
Hauger soon afterwards bolted on the soft tyres and lowered his benchmark time to 1m 35.954 as focus turned to Qualifying simulations, which saw Maloney finish fastest with a day-topping 1m 35.783 ahead of Martins and Hauger.
Race simulations dominated the rest of the day’s running, aside from red flags for Duerksen and O’Sullivan at Turns 2 and 7 respectively in the afternoon session, as nobody improved upon their fastest lap times of the morning session.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Zane Maloney | Carlin | 1m 35.783 |
| 2 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.105 |
| 3 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | + 0.171 |
| 4 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 0.201 |
| 5 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | + 0.210 |
| 6 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | + 0.212 |
| 7 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.230 |
| 8 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | + 0.271 |
| 9 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | + 0.284 |
| 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Virtuosi | + 0.289 |
| 11 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | + 0.317 |
| 12 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 0.318 |
| 13 | Joshua Duerksen | PHM Racing | + 0.535 |
| 14 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.596 |
| 15 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | + 0.599 |
| 16 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | + 0.816 |
| 17 | Ritomo Miyata | Carlin | + 0.854 |
| 18 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | + 0.896 |
| 19 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.084 |
| 20 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | + 1.295 |
| 21 | Kush Maini | Virtuosi | + 1.380 |
| 22 | Joshua Mason | PHM Racing | + 1.478 |
Day Three
Ahead of the final day of running, Trident made a change as Verschoor dropped out with Christian Mansell in his seat.
Once the morning session began, Manuel Correa set the initial pace but was quickly beaten by Crawford who posted 1m 36.551, only for Colaponto to go 0.090s quicker until Hadjar soon took over at the top with 1m 36.180 prior to a red flag for Maloney.
Once the session resumed, Hadjar lowered his benchmark time to 1m 35.958 to top the final day of F2 running in 2023, although there was a second red flag after Bearman and Aron both stopped on the back straight between Turns 5 and 6 with separate issues.
Mansell produced a third red flag of the morning with 20 minutes left, as race simulations became the priority for many drivers.
After the final lunch break of the test, Bearman caused another red flag as he stopped at Turn 5 barely minutes into the afternoon’s session.
Majority of the drivers subsequently focused on data gathering but Hauger and Maloney and Mansell set their quickest lap times of the day in the afternoon session, having opted for a final qualifying lap simulation run.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | 1m 35.958 |
| 2 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | + 0.036 |
| 3 | Zane Maloney | Carlin | + 0.044 |
| 4 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.090 |
| 5 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | + 0.116 |
| 6 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | + 0.170 |
| 7 | Kush Maini | Virtuosi | + 0.297 |
| 8 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Virtuosi | + 0.319 |
| 9 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | + 0.343 |
| 10 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | + 0.393 |
| 11 | Joshua Duerksen | PHM Racing | + 0.448 |
| 12 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 0 449 |
| 13 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.465 |
| 14 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | + 0.647 |
| 15 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | + 0.796 |
| 16 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 0.866 |
| 17 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 1.006 |
| 18 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | + 1.078 |
| 19 | Joshua Mason | PHM Racing | + 1.128 |
| 20 | Ritomo Miyata | Carlin | + 1.175 |
| 21 | Oliver Goethe | Trident | + 1.519 |
| 22 | Christian Mansell | Trident | + 1.644 |