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 Flörsch were amongst the first to enjoy a spot at the top of the times, as they showed initial flashes of speed.

Théo 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 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.

default image

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.

2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship - pre-season tests, Day 2, morning session

DRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS
1David SchumacherCharouz Racing System1:47.46130
2Sebastian FernandezART Grand Prix1:47.48230
3Niko KariCharouz Racing System1:47.63040
4Lirim ZendeliTrident1:47.65928
5Clement NovalakCarlin Buzz Racing1:47.68933
6Theo PourchaireART Grand Prix1:47.79030
7Logan SargeantPREMA Racing1:47.79331
8Oscar PiastriPREMA Racing1:47.83830
9Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport1:47.93326
10Devlin DeFrancescoTrident1:48.00719
11Liam LawsonHitech Grand Prix1:48.02131
12Sophia FloerschCampos Racing1:48.06522
13Frederik VestiPREMA Racing1:48.13330
14Alexander SmolyarART Grand Prix1:48.15528
15Igor FragaCharouz Racing System1:48.17035
16Max FewtrellHitech Grand Prix1:48.18429
17Enaam AhmedCarlin Buzz Racing1:48.25330
18Olli CaldwellTrident1:48.35821
19Enzo FittipaldiHWA RACELAB1:48.46145
20Cameron DasCarlin Buzz Racing1:48.56831
21Federico MalvestitiJenzer Motorsport1:48.59328
22Calan WilliamsJenzer Motorsport1:48.59930
23Bent ViscaalMP Motorsport1:48.60230
24Dennis HaugerHitech Grand Prix1:48.66929
25Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing1:48.91530
26Lukas DunnerMP Motorsport1:48.92929
27Jack DoohanHWA RACELAB1:49.13539
28Matteo NanniniJenzer Motorsport1:49.41520
29Alexander PeroniCampos Racing1:49.83815

2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship - pre-season tests, Day 2, afternoon session

DRIVERTEAMLAPTIMELAPS
1Liam LawsonHitech Grand Prix1:46.36525
2Clement NovalakCarlin Buzz Racing1:46.88435
3Alexander PeroniCampos Racing1:46.90237
4Logan SargeantPREMA Racing1:46.93638
5Dennis HaugerHitech Grand Prix1:47.06827
6Oscar PiastriPREMA Racing1:47.09036
7Jake HughesHWA RACELAB1:47.20044
8Theo PourchaireART Grand Prix1:47.20128
9Sebastian FernandezART Grand Prix1:47.26135
10Devlin DeFrancescoTrident1:47.26434
11Max FewtrellHitech Grand Prix1:47.33927
12Sophia FloerschCampos Racing1:47.43633
13Matteo NanniniJenzer Motorsport1:47.53325
14Enzo FittipaldiHWA RACELAB1:47.53835
15Olli CaldwellTrident1:47.69038
16Federico MalvestitiJenzer Motorsport1:47.76326
17Jack DoohanHWA RACELAB1:47.78138
18Frederik VestiPREMA Racing1:47.79832
19Calan WilliamsJenzer Motorsport1:47.90833
20Cameron DasCarlin Buzz Racing1:47.99628
21Enaam AhmedCarlin Buzz Racing1:48.32423
22Alessio DeleddaCampos Racing1:48.98334
23Niko KariCharouz Racing System1:50.86641
24Lirim ZendeliTrident1:51.07036
25David SchumacherCharouz Racing System1:51.07641
26Alexander SmolyarART Grand Prix1:51.12019
27Igor FragaCharouz Racing System1:51.13432
28Richard VerschoorMP Motorsport1:51.20435
29Lukas DunnerMP Motorsport1:51.30435
30Bent ViscaalMP Motorsport1:51.72135