Gunther goes quickest on final day of F2 Bahrain test for Arden
Arden International rookie Maximilian Gunther topped the times on the final day of Formula 2 pre-season testing in Bahrain
Gunther's best effort of 1m42.756s, was 0.02s quicker than the benchmark set by Trident's Arjun Maini the previous day.
The German driver's lap came during the opening hour of running of the final day of the three day test, with the teams then switching attention to race preparations in the form of long runs and pit stop practice.
Charouz Racing System's Louis Deletraz emerged as Gunther's closest rival, winding up 0.302s adrift.
Mercedes' Formula 1 junior George Russell beat his ART Grand Prix team-mate Jack Aitken, Renault's reserve F1 driver for 2018, to third.
Aitken caused one of the day's three red when he stopped at Turn 8 during the morning running.
Sergio Sette Camara (Carlin) took fifth, just in front of Russian Time's Honda protege Tadasuke Makino and Maini, who jostled with Gunther for top spot early on before eventually slipping to seventh.
Luca Ghiotto was classified in eighth spot for Campos Racing, ahead of DAMS driver Alexander Albon, as Nirei Fukuzumi put in a late surge to round out the top 10.
Ferrari and McLaren juniors Antonio Fuoco and Lando Norris ended up 11th and 12th respectively.
Last year's F2 runner-up Artem Markelov and Ralph Boschung were the culprits of the other red flags, and they ended up 13th and 15th.
Prema Racing, which has guided Pierre Gasly and Charles Leclerc to the last two drivers' titles, had a low-key display, with Nyck de Vries its lead representative in 16th.
Roy Nissany and Roberto Merhi were 18th and 20th as they again ran for Campos and MP Motorsport - which the only teams yet to finalise the final spots in their 2018 line-ups.
F2's opening round will take place at the same circuit in two weeks' time on the support bill for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Morning times
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Maximilian Guenther | BWT Arden | 1m42.756s | - | 28 |
2 | Louis Deletraz | Charouz Racing System | 1m43.058s | 0.302s | 39 |
3 | George Russell | ART Grand Prix | 1m43.109s | 0.353s | 24 |
4 | Jack Aitken | ART Grand Prix | 1m43.143s | 0.387s | 24 |
5 | Sergio Sette Camara | Carlin | 1m43.149s | 0.393s | 28 |
6 | Tadasuke Makino | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m43.209s | 0.453s | 21 |
7 | Arjun Maini | Trident | 1m43.254s | 0.498s | 28 |
8 | Luca Ghiotto | Campos Vexatec Racing | 1m43.266s | 0.510s | 22 |
9 | Alexander Albon | DAMS | 1m43.388s | 0.632s | 29 |
10 | Antonio Fuoco | Charouz Racing System | 1m43.474s | 0.718s | 21 |
11 | Lando Norris | Carlin | 1m43.490s | 0.734s | 28 |
12 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m43.682s | 0.926s | 23 |
13 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1m43.715s | 0.959s | 30 |
14 | Ralph Boschung | MP Motorsport | 1m43.828s | 1.072s | 17 |
15 | Nyck de Vries | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | 1m43.876s | 1.120s | 22 |
16 | Santino Ferrucci | Trident | 1m43.890s | 1.134s | 22 |
17 | Roy Nissany | Campos Vexatec Racing | 1m43.975s | 1.219s | 22 |
18 | Sean Gelael | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | 1m44.051s | 1.295s | 20 |
19 | Roberto Merhi | MP Motorsport | 1m44.625s | 1.869s | 28 |
20 | Nirei Fukuzumi | BWT Arden | 1m44.778s | 2.022s | 12 |
Afternoon times
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Nirei Fukuzumi | BWT Arden | 1m43.430s | - | 35 |
2 | Maximilian Guenther | BWT Arden | 1m44.145s | 0.715s | 35 |
3 | Antonio Fuoco | Charouz Racing System | 1m44.152s | 0.722s | 39 |
4 | Sergio Sette Camara | Carlin | 1m45.310s | 1.880s | 21 |
5 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m46.895s | 3.465s | 46 |
6 | Roberto Merhi | MP Motorsport | 1m46.908s | 3.478s | 45 |
7 | Lando Norris | Carlin | 1m46.937s | 3.507s | 24 |
8 | George Russell | ART Grand Prix | 1m47.060s | 3.630s | 58 |
9 | Tadasuke Makino | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m47.239s | 3.809s | 34 |
10 | Sean Gelael | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | 1m47.419s | 3.989s | 45 |
11 | Alexander Albon | DAMS | 1m48.110s | 4.680s | 48 |
12 | Ralph Boschung | MP Motorsport | 1m48.412s | 4.982s | 24 |
13 | Santino Ferrucci | Trident | 1m48.454s | 5.024s | 43 |
14 | Roy Nissany | Campos Vexatec Racing | 1m48.469s | 5.039s | 28 |
15 | Jack Aitken | ART Grand Prix | 1m48.600s | 5.170s | 53 |
16 | Luca Ghiotto | Campos Vexatec Racing | 1m48.759s | 5.329s | 56 |
17 | Nicholas Latifi | DAMS | 1m48.776s | 5.346s | 34 |
18 | Nyck de Vries | Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | 1m48.857s | 5.427s | 29 |
19 | Louis Deletraz | Charouz Racing System | 1m49.013s | 5.583s | 41 |
20 | Arjun Maini | Trident | 1m49.327s | 5.897s | 33 |
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