Is Rio Haryanto a future star?

The Indonesian Driver collected a second and first place at the Bahrain Grand Prix.

After the Bahrain Grand Prix, it was clear that Vandoorne had the advantage. A poor weekend for the DAMS drivers as well as Marciello, Sirotkin, Evans and Pic meant that many of the Belgium's expected championship contenders were now on the back foot. After collecting pole, a win in race 1 and the fastest lap. It looked set up for him to do a clean sweep, but narrowly missed out, coming second.

What was clear was that no-one could match the pace of Vandoorne all weekend. All but one man...

Before 2015, Haryanto's best GP2 result was a second place at Silverstone in 2013, but had never finished higher than 14th in the championship. He now moves into his fourth season of the Series. Haryanto did not show much speed during pre-season testing, but ultimately it's all about the result on the day. Having collected his first GP2 victory on the Sunday, his performance even got a mention on the national Indonesian news.

He is undoubtedly Indonesia's best driver in a generation, but is he ready to step into F1?

As I said before, he hasn't shone in GP2 in previous seasons and had limited pace in testing, but is this simply his coming-of-age, after all, the 2014 champion; Palmer won the title after 4 years. At 22, he's certainly young enough to make the leap the F1 or other higher formulas.

He hasn't been exceptional in other series either. He did win the Formula BMW Pacific championship in 2009, but this is small to average achievement considering the calibre of his competitors who have competed and been successful in FR3.5 and European F3. While his 2 years in GP3 saw him collect just 3 victories but did earn him a test drive for the Marussia Formula One team.

Finishing well in the first weekend doesn't always mean that drivers become championship contenders. Leal managed a personal best 2nd and 3rd in last years Bahrain GP, but struggled as the year went on, scoring 2 points in the second half of the year and falling to 10th in the final standings.

While in 2013, Coletti managed to build up his lead at the start. After 6 races (3 rounds) he had 120 points, with Nasr on 96, Bird 58 and Leimer 54. Yet despite this large point advantage, it was Leimer who won the title as Coletti scored just 1 more time for the rest of the season finishing 5th. While Nasr also fell to 4th overall.

The point is, Haryanto is going to have to prove he can keep up the pace for the rest of the season if he is to gain respect from the F1 community. Although he was wiped out after only a few laps, team mate, Pic proved the car is competitive. So the pressure is on Rio to see if he can really challenge Vandoorne (and the others), or was Bahrain a one off.

Then again, with Formula One today, it's likely that he could just buy a drive. Or perhaps that's just me being cynical.

See you in Spain.

-|RacingRecaps|-

2015 GP3 Pre-Season Test (Barcelona) Day 2

And the Curtain Closes on Pre-Season Testing

Pal Varhaug topped the Morning and Afternoon sessions

The final day of pre-season testing comes to a close. This gives teams to finalise their cars and drivers before the first round in Spain.

Report
 
It was a sunny start to the day as the cars streamed onto the track. Varhaug had taken an early lead in front of home driver, Alex Palou. Varhaug stepped up his game after an hour and managed to drop into the 1 minute 34 seconds. While Ashkanani had a poor session stopping twice on track.

It had started to calm down towards the end of the session as the teams decided to focus on pit stop practice. Despite this, Fuoco wanted to prove a point by going second. However; as the session drew to a close, it became obvious that no one was going to beat the Jenzer drivers time.

The afternoon session got underway, as the Jenzer's continued to dominate. Boschung at the top was soon displaced by his teammate. But even as the Arden drivers picked up speed and positions, they were unable to beat Varhaug's time.

Being the final session, many of the teams worked on some much needed long run pace. The signs looked good for Arden and Jenzer, but with Trident, Carlin and Status at the back, it may be a disappointing season for some if that pace is representative. This left Varhaug to top both session on a day he'll be happy with.



That's it, the cars have been tested and evaluated. There's nothing more the teams can do. So perhaps it is quite fitting that GP3's "elder statesman" Pal Varhaug leads them away as they prepare for the first race of the season on the 9th May.


Conclusions from Testing

While many expected Carlin and ART Grand Prix to remain at the front, the sessions have been quite open, meaning that it is hard to tell who has the upper hand.

Palou will leave the tests as the surprise driver, having performed in a number of sessions. For a driver that finished 3rd in EuroSeries, he has outperformed, not only his title rivals from 2014, but also his critics and the cars expecations. The only negative he'll take away is his strained neck, but this is likely to heal in 2 weeks.

While their performance has often been sporadic. In general, Carlin have struggled. This could be a serious problem for Mardenborough and Fuoco, who are likely championship contendors. While Jenzer have done much better, with Boschung going through a mini revolution in results.

There is still one seat left, but with Samin Gomez having taken it in the last two tests, it seems more than likely that the spot will remain.

So, who is championship favourite?

Ocon, Kirchhofer, Fuoco, Bernstorff, Eriksson are still the drivers with the experience and ability. But team performance could help drivers like, Varhaug, Boschung, Parry and Palou to fight for a title that may have seemed out of reach at the start.

-|RacingRecaps|-

2015 GP3 Pre-Season Test (Barcelona) Day 1

Mardenborough leads way for Carlin

© GP3 Series

The sky was quite dark as the drivers headed out onto the track. However; little was done at the start with no times set after an hour of competition. In fact Palou and Askanani were the only drivers to have set competitive laps after 90 minutes, these were soon beaten by Mardenborough. He continued to improve dipping into the 1:34's after a few minutes of running.

The other driver attempted to beat his time but were not successful as Gomez stopped her car at turn 5. With an hour to go, the teams went out to improve their times with Kirchhofer and Eriksson being the most successful. However; Jann stayed on top as the GP3 graduates looked on.

The rain came out for the second session as the drivers chose not to do much running. However; returned after the shower. Unsurprisingly, the drivers were about 4 seconds off the pace in the conditions, but quickly improved. 

Under the damp conditions, it was Morris who lead the standings and with half an hour to go, and looked like he was the man to beat. Mardenborough went 2nd, but was unable to beat his compatriot. Unfortunately the session was cut short by Fuoco who stopped out on track, the circuit went live with 1 minute left, but the cars did no competitive running. 

Results:

Pos.	Driver	Nat.	Team	Morning	Afternoon
1	Seb Morris	GBR	Status Grand Prix	1:36.158	1:35.740
2	Jann Mardenborough	GBR	Carlin	1:34.910 [1]	1:35.843
3	Matt Parry	GBR	Koiranen GP	1:35.420	1:36.406
4	Alex Palou	ESP	Campos Racing	1:35.340	1:36.578
5	Alex Fontana	SUI	Status Grand Prix	1:36.044	1:36.695
6	Sandy Stuvik	THA	Status Grand Prix	1:36.661	1:36.768
7	Emil Bernstorff	GBR	Arden International	1:35.979	1:36.817
8	Antonio Fuoco	ITA	Carlin	1:35.213	1:36.852
9	Alfonso Celis, Jr.	MEX	ART Grand Prix	1:35.271	1:36.923
10	Matheo Tuscher	SUI	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.405	1:36.929
11	Pal Varhaug	NOR	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.004 [2]	1:37.129
12	Kevin Ceccon	ITA	Arden International	1:36.622	1:37.261
13	Esteban Ocon	FRA	ART Grand Prix	1:35.070	1:37.929
14	Aleksander Bosak	POL	Arden International	1:37.349	1:38.201
15	Mitchell Gilbert	AUS	Carlin	1:35.576	1:38.267
16	Zaid Ashkanani	KUW	Campos Racing	1:37.568	1:38.489
17	Ralph Boschung	SUI	Jenzer Motorsport	1:35.013 [4]	1:38.498
18	Marvin Kirchhöfer	GER	ART Grand Prix	1:35.005 [3]	1:38.774
19	Luca Ghiotto	ITA	Trident	1:35.433	1:38.822
20	Oscar Tunjo	COL	Trident	1:35.290	1:39.309
21	Samin Gomez	VEN	Campos Racing	1:38.753	1:39.322
22	Adderly Fong	HGK	Koiranen GP	1:35.337	1:39.443
23	Jimmy Eriksson	SWE	Koiranen GP	1:35.033 [5]	1:39.613
24	Artur Janosz	POL	Trident	1:36.336	1:39.631
The Positions are the results of the Afternoon Session [1] – Position in Morning Session (only top 5 shown)

So whats the Conclusion:

Despite his excellent form last year, Eriksson continues to go under the radar, while he did manage a good time in the morning, he often doesn't carry a lot of pace. This could be concerning with many new young drivers coming through. The same should be said for Varhaug. Considering his experience, he should be at the top, instead he scraps amongst his inexperienced team mates.

Ghiotto is another driver who hasn't performed as well as he should have, after getting pole in his first race, the driver has been nowhere. But; despite this, Morris and Parry are starting to perform after a, so far, mediocre performance.

-|RacingRecaps|-

2015 GP2 Bahrain Weekend Recap

Vandoorne the man to beat as Haryanto Impresses...

An excellent weekend for Vandoorne will see him leave the weekend as the highest placed points scorer.  But many of his expected rivals struggled and will be on the back foot in the title fight.

Practice

Racing Engineering were the first to show their pace during the weekend, with Jordan King taking top spot and Rossi 0.01 seconds behind. While DAMS did show us early pace, this would end up being a highlight to their weekend. Vandoorne had stopped on track with mechanical problems, so the ART Grand Prix driver went in on the back foot.

POS	NO	DRIVERS	TEAMS	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	7	J. King	Racing Engineering	17	1:42.441
2	8	A. Rossi	Racing Engineering	20	1:42.451	0.010
3	2	A. Lynn	DAMS	18	1:42.509	0.068
4	5	S. Vandoorne	ART Grand Prix	14	1:42.612	0.171
5	14	A. Pic	Campos Racing	16	1:42.948	0.507
6	15	R. Haryanto	Campos Racing	16	1:43.043	0.602
7	1	P. Gasly	DAMS	18	1:43.249	0.808
8	9	M. Evans	RUSSIAN TIME	16	1:43.327	0.886

Qualifying 

Despite his set back during practice, Vandoorne bounced back in fine form to take from Honda prodegee Matsushita. Lynn proved to be their closest competitor. While Pic continued his consistant form. The drivers were on form in the cooler night time conditions, with most personal bests being set towards the end on new rubber. Lynn was the stand out performer, while Racing Engineering seemed to still be in a good position.

POS	NO	DRIVERS	TEAMS	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	5	S. Vandoorne	ART Grand Prix	11	1:39.237
2	6	N. Matsushita	ART Grand Prix	11	1:39.545	0.308
3	2	A. Lynn	DAMS	11	1:39.599	0.362
4	14	A. Pic	Campos Racing	11	1:39.630	0.393
5	11	R. Marciello	Trident	8	1:39.645	0.408
6	7	J. King	Racing Engineering	11	1:39.770	0.533
7	21	N. Nato	Arden International	11	1:39.857	0.620
8	8	A. Rossi	Racing Engineering	12	1:39.872	0.635

Feature Race

A close fought Race saw Matsushita make a poor start. The race livened up after an accident between Marciello, Nato, Pic and Gasly while battling for 3rd. As the Safety Car came out, many stayed out, however a few, including Evans, Rossi, King and Lynn pitted for new tyres.

Rossi lead the group as the 2 leaders of Vandoorne and Haryanto pushed in order to get a gap over the others. Lynn and Evans appeared to push their tyres too hard and fell off the pace as it became a Racing Engineering 1-2 after everyone had pitted.

However; an excellent drive from Vandoorne saw him close Rossi down by 3 seconds a lap. Catching him with 3 to go. Haryanto also moved through the order taking 2nd in the final corner.

After the race, Vandoorne told 'GP2series.com "It’s been a really good start to my campaign with pole, win and fastest lap. It could not have gone any better."

 

POS	NO	DRIVERS	TEAMS	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	5	S. Vandoorne	ART Grand Prix	32	1:01:23.306
2	15	R. Haryanto	Campos Racing	32	1:01:28.362	5.056
3	8	A. Rossi	Racing Engineering	32	1:01:28.803	5.497
4	7	J. King	Racing Engineering	32	1:01:35.628	12.322
5	19	R. Visoiu	Rapax	32	1:01:43.354	20.048
6	9	M. Evans	RUSSIAN TIME	32	1:01:48.849	25.543
7	26	N. Berthon	Lazarus	32	1:01:51.035	27.729
8	3	J. Leal	Carlin	32	1:01:51.769	28.463
9	20	A. Negrão	Arden International	32	1:01:52.808	29.502
10	6	N. Matsushita	ART Grand Prix	32	1:01:52.970	29.664

Sprint Race

An excellent start for Evans saw him challenge Leal for the Lead into turn 1. Leal built a lead as Evans was challenged by Haryanto behind. As Evans' tyres wore down he became vunerable to the cars behind. Haryanto took second and then the lead as Leal had his own issues.

Rio Haryanto built up a large gap as the ART Grand Prix drivers started moving through the order along with Rossi. Meanwhile there was a crash between King and Canamasas.

Leal and Visoiu hit a cliff and fell down as Matsushita took 2nd, however Vandoorne was the driver on the move and soon overtook his team mate. While Berthon also made places past Matsushita and Rossi.
 

POS	NO	DRIVERS	TEAMS	LAPS	TIME	GAP
1	15	R. Haryanto	Campos Racing	23	41:35.490
2	5	S. Vandoorne	ART Grand Prix	23	41:38.494	3.004
3	26	N. Berthon	Lazarus	23	41:41.129	5.639
4	8	A. Rossi	Racing Engineering	23	41:41.748	6.258
5	3	J. Leal	Carlin	23	41:49.435	13.945
6	6	N. Matsushita	ART Grand Prix	23	41:51.413	15.923
7	19	R. Visoiu	Rapax	23	41:55.284	19.794
8	20	A. Negrão	Arden International	23	41:55.649	20.159

Conclusions
 
So at the end of the weekend Vadoorne leaves with the championship lead, but we've been left with a lot of questions. One of the main concerns for people will be the poor performance of many of the championship favourites. Lynn, Gasly, Pic, Marciello, Evans all failed to score. So for them is it all over, or can they still catch up?


-|RacingRecaps|-

2015 GP2 Season Preview

Start Your Engines!

GP2 2015 Grid - GP2 Series ©

Yes, it's finally here, the 2015 GP2 Season. As the series plans to go into its 11th season, we are likely to be provided with one of the closest and thrilling battles for any championship. With Formula One losing another 2 cars and teams becoming ever more cash strapped it's likely we're going to see a backlog of talent in coming years. While this may be an issue for drivers and F1 teams it's likely to be great for us.

So, the teams and each drivers chances this year.

DAMS
They had an excellent season under Palmer and Richelmi, while they've gone for an equally talented pair this year. However; will their inexperience hold them back and is the pressure too high to win in GP2's top team.

1. Pierre Gasly -- Prediction - 3rd
While he isn't a rookie technically, he's not going to know most of the circuits, however; Vandoorne didn't let this stop him. He'll have a lot of pressure from Red Bull, but with Sainz and Verstappen only recently signed, does he have much chance of progression. The 18 year old may be punching above his weight, but I'm sure he'll manage.

2. Alex Lynn -- Prediction - 7th
The reigning GP3 champion will know the calendar. He was known for being very calculated in his GP3 season, planning what he needed to do to win the championship. It will be harder this year as he plans to go forward with his career without Red Bull. His first goal will be to prove himself against his successful team mate, but many GP3 graduates have struggled before.

Carlin
While they may have only narrowly lost out last season, it may be harder this year for them to get a result, with a car that has mostly struggled during testing. However; they'll be hoping Age wins over youth.

3. Julian Leal -- Prediction - Midfield
Leal had a dream start to the season, managing to keep with Nasr, however, fell off the pace towards the end. Could this be a sign that Leal will struggle to compete with the young talent going through? But now in his 5th year, he is set to be GP2's most experienced driver.

4. Marco Sorensen -- Prediction - 8th
Marco has already started looking into a career in sports cars, having only completed half the season last year, it will be great to see what he can do. However, he already has a win and can prove that he will fight. He'll want to make an impression if nothing else.

ART Grand Prix
GP2's corner stone team has had limited success in recent years, but Vandoorne has given them hope. With a driver from Honda and McLaren's young driver programme, could we see an F1 partnership between the 3 in future years.

5. Stoffel Vandoorne -- Prediction - 1st
All the pressure is on his shoulders this year. With his closest rivals gone and now another year more experienced his aim has to be to win. However, he may fall foul if he encounters the same problem with the sprint race as he did last year. Belgiums hopes lay on his shoulders.

6. Nobuharu Matsushita -- Prediction - Lower Midfield
If Izawa was anything to go by then Japanese drivers struggle in Europe. However; Europe seemed to be the only option for the man who has won everything in Japan. At only 21, he's got a few years to prove himself, but is ART too big of a jump.

Racing Engineering
Both of their drivers have a lot to prove this year and need positive finishes, while they may struggle to compete for the title, as a pairing it's great for the constructors.

7. Jordan King -- Prediction - 10th
The former British F3 champion had a tough year in European F3 alongside big name like Ocon/ Verstappen and Rosenqvist, however; he has talent and with his Marussia deal, it could help secure a future for him, but he'll have to perform if he doesn't want be labelled a pay driver.

8. Alexander Rossi -- Prediction - 5th
Rossi said his only aim is the title. I can see it being close, but it may be tough. Having been out of racing for half a year, it may take time to get back in. However; with Haas F1 entering next year, could this be a chance for the experienced F1 test driver to prove himself.

Russian Time
They've had success in the past, but how will they do under new owners. Having been the only team to retain their line up, can they use it to their advantage.

9. Mitch Evans -- Prediction 2nd
Evans was the dark horse of last season, regularly being at the front. Consistency may be key to this championship and Evans will after an F1 team to pick him up on talent. After all it's unlikely he'll be able to pay to get in. He's one guy, Vandoorne should be concerned about.

10. Artem Markelov -- Prediction - High Midfield
He struggled to meet peoples expectations last year. But he's still young and will now go into the season with knowledge on the car. He's proven he can overtake, but he needs to collect the points.

Trident
Having spent years as GP2's back marker team, have they finally come of age. But will the previous experience hamper or help their two drivers.

11. Rafaelle Marciello -- Prediction - 4th
Like others he's proven he can race and his F3 success is well recorded. But with the F1 world so tough, this may be the year that Marciello has to prove himself to stay at Ferrari. Considering Vandoorne's McLaren connection the two could rekindle their rivalry from Belgium last year.

12. Rene Binder -- Prediction - Low Midfield
This might be Binder's last year in GP2, as he now has to look at his future. Having never finished a championship, or a GP2 race higher than 6th it may be hard for him to keep pace.

Campos Racing
Compared to others their experience is lacking, but Pic proved they can be competitive... in one car. They want better results and their drivers are proof that they want experience.

14. Arthur Pic -- Prediction - 6th
His rookie performance was largely overshadowed and he said he wants to fight for the championship. But Pic often struggled to gain places during races, relying on good qualifying. He'll be competitive and should add at least another win to his tally.

15. Rio Haryanto -- Prediction - Lower Midfield
No-one had any luck in the no.2 car last year. While he did win the Formula BMW Pacific championship in 2009, his GP2 performance has seemed quite stagnant. He might be able to fight for points, but it looks like another tough season for the Indonesian.

MP Motorsport
Another one of GP2's under successors, they will be hoping that this season marks a change for them. With reliability often holding them back last year.

16. Sergio Canamasas -- Prediction - Midfield
Midfield, if he keeps his seat. Having only signed for Bahrain his seat is not safe. However; he was often accused of dangerous driving last season (Monza) so will have eyes on him to take the step up.

17. Daniel de Jong -- Prediction - Near the Back
History is not on de Jong's side. Having not finished higher than 7th in a race and at one point last year, was the only driver to have competed in every race and not scored a point. However; his relationship with MP now enters its 3rd year, so he's got commitment.

Rapax
They have a rich history, but last year was one to forget. As a result they've taken the Sauber approach by completely overhauling their drivers, taking on two rookies.

18. Sergey Sirotkin -- Prediction - 9th
Having at one point being linked with a Sauber drive. He has gone from being a driver with "no talent" to a competitive Formula Renault driver. He's likely to do well, but results may take time, certainly Russia's man to watch.

19. Robert Visoiu -- Prediction - Near the Back
He may be experienced in GP3 but experience doesn't necessarily mean points. Just ask Pal Varhaug. While he might shine in some areas, it's likely he's going to go largely unnoticed.

Arden International
Will be hoping for better this year, but their could hold the drivers back. However; they shone during the testing. Only time will tell if that was for the sponsors or the results.

20. Andre Negrao -- Prediction - High Midfield
While he may struggle against the new talent, it's likely that Negrao will compete for points. But it may result in what circuit is being used. He has the momentum, but he just needs the results.

21. Norman Nato -- Prediction - Midfield
Being the team mate to the FR3.5 champion is not easy, especially when you were 7th. However; with 2 wins, he should be confident going into the year. His testing pace was faster than many expected. Could he beat the critics.

Status Grand Prix
Caterham went into the year as one of the favourites, they ended it with only 1 podium and a financial collapse. It's always hard for a new team, but Campos proved they could be competitive, a lot will need to be expected from them, but they've got the experience with GP3.

22. Marlon Stockinger -- Prediction - Midfield
He represents another FR3.5 refugee, probably spurred on by the new 'points' system introduced in order to get into F1. However; being the Philippines first GP2 driver will mean that the pressure is on to perform for his fans. His record isn't immaculate but should perform well with Lotus backing.

23. Richie Stanaway -- Prediction - Midfield
He was the star of testing. While it is likely much of this is exaggerated, the young New Zealander has titles in many series, including German F3. Whether he can keep up the pace, will be seen, but at 23, he needs to prove himself fast in order to reach F1.

Hilmer Motorsport
Having pulled out of the first race and the GP3 series, it is likely that the team has an unlikely future. If they do get drivers running, the car is likely to be uncompetitive. Only time will tell

Lazarus
The've become GP2's back of the grid team in recent years, however; they had a shake up. They've brought in an ex-Ferrari employee and retained their top driver from 2014, to add, they've had success in testing.

26. Nathanael Berthon -- Prediction - Midfield
While many will argue he has a race win, many other will admit that Berthon has little GP2 success overall. But considering how uncompetitive they were last year, there were many times when he took the unconventional strategy last year and gained points.

27. Zoel Amburg -- Pediction - Lower Midfield
His successes are nothing spectacular, hasn't won a race since 2011 but, like his team mate, put in good performances in the testing days, just might out perform a few critics.

-|RacingRecaps|-

2015 GP3 Pre-Season Test (Valencia) Day 2

Palou continues to impress

Any doubts people had about Alex Palou's ability have been blown out of the water, as the driver leaves Valencia as the fastest man. Despite only coming 3rd in EuroFormula Open last year, he has outperformed the drivers he lost the championship to, as well as the favourites for the title.

Friday proved to be warmer than Thursday meaning the cars were able to use their tyres more and set quicker times. So, unlike yesterday, most of the times were set in the first hour, with Palou and then Kirchhofer breaking the 1 minute 21 second barrier. Ocon would be the only other driver to break that time barrier. Most of the teams decided to focus on race simulations or qualifying runs so pace was varied throughout the morning session.

Eriksson was the one setting the pace in the afternoon session as the pace picked up, but many chose to focus on long run pace instead of quick laps. The pace picked up in the final hour, but any chance of the cars getting into a rhythm was interrupted with 2 red flags from Kirchhofer, then Parry stopping out on track. When it was restarted, Varhaug and Gilbert moved to the top of the time sheets at the end of the session.

The final test will be at Barcelona on the 22nd and 23rd of April.

Results:

Pos.	Driver	Nat.	Team	Morning	Afternoon
1	Pal Varhaug	SUI	Jenzer Motorsport	1:21.384	1:21.719
2	Mitchell Gilbert	AUS	Carlin	1:21.810	1:22.021
3	Kevin Korjus	EST	Koiranen GP	1:21.144 [4]	1:22.064
4	Jimmy Eriksson	SWE	Koiranen GP	1:21.215	1:22.086
5	Seb Morris	GBR	Status Grand Prix	1:21.874	1:22.222
6	Oscar Tunjo	COL	Trident	1:21.425	1:22.258
7	Antonio Fuoco	ITA	Carlin	1:21.443	1:22.263
8	Matthew Parry	GBR	Koiranen GP	1:21.382	1:22.281
9	Kevin Ceccon	ITA	Arden International	1:22.118	1:22.316
10	Alex Fontana	SUI	Status Grand Prix	1:21.618	1:22.332
11	Zaid Ashkanani	KUW	Campos Racing	1:21.727	1:22.383
12	Emil Bernstorff	GBR	Arden International	1:21.591	1:22.393
13	Matheo Tuscher	SUI	Jenzer Motorsport	1:21.165 [5]	1:22.551
14	Sandy Stuvik	THA	Status Grand Prix	1:21.598	1:22.683
15	Esteban Ocon	FRA	ART Grand Prix	1:20.980 [3]	1:23.199
16	Luca Ghiotto	ITA	Trident	1:21.424	1:23.275
17	Samin Gomez	VEN	Campos Racing	1:23.414	1:23.486
18	Marvin Kirchhöfer	GER	ART Grand Prix	1:20.892 [2]	1:23.618
19	Alex Palou	ESP	Campos Racing	1:20.880 [1]	1:23.705
20	Artur Janosz	POL	Trident	1:22.671	1:23.821
21	Ralph Boschung	SUI	Jenzer Motorsport	1:21.343	1:23.983
22	Aleksander Bosak	POL	Arden International	1:22.770	1:24.169
23	Jann Mardenborough	GBR	Carlin	1:21.588	1:24.433
24	Alfonso Celis. Jr	MEX	ART Grand Prix	1:21.324	1:24.522
The Positions are the results of the Afternoon Session [1] – Position in Morning Session (only top 5 shown)

What have we learned

The biggest news remains Palou's pace, while it might be down to his experience of the track over his raw speed. You would have thought that others would have caught up by the second day. All Palou did was extend his gap. We've also seen the pace of Samin Gomez. The slow pace suggests that she may have not done enough to secure the one remaining seat. However, only time will tell.

-|RacingRecaps|-