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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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