Roundup of the 2024 F2 pre-season test in Sakhir, Bahrain, as drivers and teams got to grips with the new generation car.
With a new generation car now in action, this pre-season test took on major significance as drivers and teams not only got acquainted with each other in terms of understanding tyres and how to extract performance but also a whole new car.
Anticipation was consequently high across the grid amidst a difficult opening day before conditions improved for the final two days of the three-day test.
Day One
DAMS’ Juan Manuel Correa was first out on track as F2’s new era got underway under wet track conditions but the session was soon halted after PHM AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard stopped on track barely 30 minutes into the session.
Once the session recommenced, Hauger set the pace with 1m 53.720 at the end of the opening hour but was briefly displaced by one of the pre-season title favourites in Victor Martins, only to quickly regain the fastest time with 1m 53.175 prior to a torrential downpour.
Once the rain dissipiated, Hauger’s lap time was unbeaten for the remainder of the session as Zane Maloney managed to pip Martins and Andrea Kimi Antonelli to second, whilst Martins brought out the red flags with 11 minutes left in the single session.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | 1m 53.175 |
| 2 | Zane Maloney | Rodin | + 0.176 |
| 3 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.192 |
| 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | + 0.336 |
| 5 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | + 0.690 |
| 6 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | + 0.732 |
| 7 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | + 0.840 |
| 8 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin | + 1.010 |
| 9 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 1.268 |
| 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 1.359 |
| 11 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | + 1.360 |
| 12 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | + 1.416 |
| 13 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | + 1.475 |
| 14 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 1.505 |
| 15 | Taylor Barnard | PHM Racing | + 1.532 |
| 16 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.657 |
| 17 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 2.138 |
| 18 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | + 2.669 |
| 19 | Joshua Durksen | PHM Racing | + 3.102 |
| 20 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 3.652 |
| 21 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta Racing | + 5.585 |
| 22 | Kush Maini | Invicta Racing | + 6:21.704 |
Day Two
Unlike the opening day of pre-season, Day Two was split into morning and afternoon sessions with the first session quickly red flagged twice after Villagomez and Aron both spun at Turn 2 in separate incidents.
Once running eventually got properly underway, Maini topped the morning session with 1m 44.219 ahead of Fittipaldi by 0.620 seconds with no further interruptions until the lunch break.
Hauger was quickest out of the traps once the afternoon session commenced with 1m 44.778 prior to a red flag caused by Stanek at Turn 8, which was the only disruption as times soon tumbled with Maloney on 1m 41.501 eventually fastest overall on the second day ahead of Crawford.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Zane Maloney | Rodin | 1m 41.501 |
| 2 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | + 0.125 |
| 3 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | + 0.234 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | + 0.420 |
| 5 | Kush Maini | Invicta Racing | + 0.481 |
| 6 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta Racing | + 0.648 |
| 7 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | + 0.661 |
| 8 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 0.671 |
| 9 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | + 0.793 |
| 10 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.812 |
| 11 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | + 0.814 |
| 12 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin | + 0.919 |
| 13 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.934 |
| 14 | Pepe Marti | Campos | + 1.038 |
| 15 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.135 |
| 16 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | + 1.158 |
| 17 | Taylor Barnard | PHM Racing | + 1.292 |
| 18 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | + 1.365 |
| 19 | Joshua Durksen | PHM Racing | + 1.542 |
| 20 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 2.211 |
| 21 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | + 3084 |
| 22 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 5.109 |
Day Three
On the final morning of this test, Campos hit the ground running as Hadjar set 1m 45..331 to head Marti in an otherwise quiet session as the entire field focused on race simulations and data gatheing.
Bortoleto however was quick out of the blocks after lunch with 1m 43.435 to head Antonelli as teams largely continued to focus on accruing as much data as possible to take into the season opener – coincidentally at this very track from 29 February – 2 March.
Drivers consequently left their final Qualifying-style laps until the final ten minutes as Rodin’s Maloney emerged quickest for the second day running, with 1m 42.468 which saw him finish ahead of Crawford and Miyata as the test drew to its close.
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Zane Maloney | Rodin | 1m 42.468 |
| 2 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | + 0.193 |
| 3 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin | + 0.216 |
| 4 | Isack Hadjar | Campos | + 0.244 |
| 5 | Enzo Fittipaldi | VAR | + 0.340 |
| 6 | Pepe Mati | Campos | + 0.419 |
| 7 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | + 0.733 |
| 8 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | + 0.826 |
| 9 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | + 0.869 |
| 10 | Joshua Durksen | PHM Racing | + 0.884 |
| 11 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | + 0.918 |
| 12 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta Racing | + 0.967 |
| 13 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | PREMA | + 1.139 |
| 14 | Rafael Villagomez | VAR | + 1.281 |
| 15 | Roman Stanek | Trident | + 1.307 |
| 16 | Oliver Bearman | PREMA | + 1.327 |
| 17 | Taylor Barnard | PHM Racing | + 1.656 |
| 18 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART GP | + 2.728 |
| 19 | Kush Maini | Invicta Racing | + 3.842 |
| 20 | Victor Martins | ART GP | + 4.923 |
| 21 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | + 5.465 |
| 22 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | + 5.670 |
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