Zane Maloney led the field in the F2 Practice for the 2024 Italian GP with a 1:32:385. He was followed by Gabriel Bortoleto with a 1:32:530 and Zak O’Sullivan with a 1:32:534.
The Italian Grand Prix welcomes back FIA Formula 2 for round 11, their first weekend back since the Belgian GP before the summer break.
Isack Hadjar leads the championship with 165 points. Gabriel Bortoleto follows closely behind with 129 points, whilst Paul Aron sits in third place with 124 points.
With the sun out and a track temperature of 38 degrees, the cars wasted no time heading out on to the track.
Exploratory Laps
Oliver Goethe and Niels Koolen were particularly eager to start their exploratory laps as they make their F2 debuts this weekend.
Goethe steps up from FIA Formula 3 for MP Motorsport, replacing Franco Colapinto who now occupies Logan Sargeant’s F1 seat at Williams Racing for the remainder of the season. Koolen replaces Taylor Barnard at AIX Racing, as it was confirmed that the Brit would be joining NEOM Mclaren in the 2024/25 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was also keen to start his exploratory laps as this weekend, he balances his F2 commitments with a Formula 1 FP1 session for Mercedes.
As It Happened
Oliver Bearman and Zak O’Sullivan were the first to set timed laps, with O’Sullivan heading the pack with a 1:34:577 for ART Grand Prix and Bearman slotting in closely behind with a 1:34:751 for PREMA Racing.
Oliver Goethe locked up at the first chicane as he got to grips with the new machinery.
With 31 minutes left to go, Antonelli set his first timed lap, a 1:35:292, +1.2s off the pace. However, this time was quickly deleted due to exceeding track limits.
The timed laps started rolling in, yet it was O’Sullivan who remained strongest with a 1:33:646. Zane Maloney followed closely behind with a 1:33:664.
With 26 minutes left to go, Roman Stanek was in the pits with race engineers seemingly trying to solve a technical issue with his car.
Dennis Hauger was now the latest driver to go quickest with a 1:33:209 for MP Motorsports.
Quiet On Track
With 17 minutes left to go, most of the drivers made their way back to the pits for a debrief, with Verschoor, Miyata, Durksen and Koolen being the only cars on track.
With 15 minutes of practice to go, Hauger was still fastest by +0.123s from Maloney with O’Sullivan in third position.
Although cars started to make their way back out on track, Goethe seemingly stalled his car ahead of the pitlane exit. This meant that Antonelli had to be pushed back into the pits to avoid any potential contact.
Improving Circuit
The timed laps started rolling in once again as the circuit was continually improving.
Joshua Durksen was now the driver to beat, with a 1:32:953 for AIX Racing.
Setting two purple sectors, Maloney set an impressive time of 1:32:532 for Invicta Racing, with Gabriel Bortoleto closely behind with a 1:32:617.
At the top of the timing screen, Maloney found an even better lap, setting a 1:32:385, with Bortoleto following suit with a 1:32:530.
Red Flag
With two minutes of the session left, Stanek came to a halt at on the run to the Ascari chicane.
Following his prolonged visit to the pits earlier in the session, it could be assumed that the Trident Racing team were still battling an unresolved issue.
Race control confirmed that the session would not be resumed.
Following the early conclusion the session, Maloney for Rodin Motorsport led the F2 Practice for the 2024 Italian GP with a 1:32:385. Bortoleto followed closely behind with a 1:32:530 for Invicta Racing and Zak O’Sullivan in third position with a 1:32:534 for ART Grand Prix.
Featured Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited
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