Sakhir, Day 3: Delétraz tops final day of post-season testing

Louis Deletraz topped the third and final day of post-season testing in Sakhir, recording a time of 1:41.872 in the morning session, before switching his attention to longer runs in the afternoon.

Jehan Daruvala impressed again, the Carlin racer led the timesheets on days one and two and finished second overall on Thursday, 0.178s off Deletraz’s time. While, Daruvala’s fellow Red Bull junior Jüri Vips clinched third with Hitech Grand Prix.

MORNING

The field focused their attention on getting plenty of laps under their belts on the final morning of post-season testing, though there were some competitive times set. Deletraz led for almost the entire session, setting the benchmark at 1:41.827 in the opening stages.

Ralph Boschung was second for a while, six tenths off, but had dropped down to seventh by the end of the morning after his car came to a halt on the main straight and forced him out of the session. Bent Viscaal was another to stop on the main straight, which also ended his day early.

Having dominated the first two days, Daruvala put his name back towards the top of the timesheets in the final 90 minutes, getting up to P2, 0.178s off the pace. The Indian two tenths faster than his teammate, Dan Ticktum, in fourth.

Hitech’s Red Bull junior team pairing continued to impress on the final morning, as Vips took third and Liam Lawson fifth. There was also space in the top ten for two more Formula 3 race winners, as Lirim Zendeli posted the sixth fastest time, with Logan Sargeant taking P8.

Christian Lundgaard and Guilherme Samaia completed the top ten with ART Grand Prix and Campos.

AFTERNOON

Samaia returned from the break and built on a positive morning’s worked, setting the fastest lap inside of the opening hour. Testing with Charouz, the Brazilian’s tour of 1:43.612 beat off competition from David Beckmann and Roberto Merhi. The trio would finish the session in sixth, eighth and ninth.

Logan Sargeant had put in an impressive 35 laps with Campos before Theo Pourchaire stopped on track and brought out a brief red flag. The American got straight back out there afterwards and finished the afternoon on 53.

Roy Nissany got stuck into some fast laps and punched in a time quick enough for second, less than a tenth off Samaia. The DAMS’ racer ended up dropping down to seventh. Nissany’s teammate, Marcus Armstrong, then chucked on a fresh pair of boots and broke the1m 43s barrier.

Felipe Drugovich and Oscar Piastri joined the Kiwi in swapping for a fresh set, going first and second in the final half an hour. The UNI-Virtuosi racer had spent most of the afternoon in the garage but returned to the track with a lap of 1:42.435.

Robert Shwartzman popped up in fourth in the final half an hour, with Clement Novalak taking P5 in the second Virtuosi. Matteo Nannini completed the top ten with HWA RACELAB.

MORNING SESSION

1 Louis Delétraz MP Motorsport 1:41.872 25
2 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 1:42.005 31
3 Juri Vips Hitech Grand Prix 1:42.145 46
4 Dan Ticktum Carlin 1:42.302 30
5 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1:42.304 40
6 Lirim Zendeli MP Motorsport 1:42.409 35
7 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 1:42.479 9
8 Logan Sargeant Campos Racing 1:42.524 26
9 Guilherme Samaia Charouz Racing System 1:42.606 36
10 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 1:42.695 39
11 Felipe Drugovich UNI-Virtuosi 1:42.697 39
12 Robert Shwartzman PREMA Racing 1:42.818 32
13 Marino Sato Trident 1:43.009 16
14 Clément Novalak UNI-Virtuosi 1:43.028 37
15 Théo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1:43.164 28
16 Bent Viscaal Trident 1:43.478 35
17 Oscar Piastri PREMA Racing 1:43.521 30
18 Roberto Merhi BWT HWA RACELAB 1:43.704 19
19 David Beckmann Charouz Racing System 1:43.966 19
20 Matteo Nannini BWT HWA RACELAB 1:44.749 22
21 Marcus Armstrong DAMS 1:47.574 41
22 Roy Nissany DAMS 1:47.964 43

AFTERNOON SESSION

1 Felipe Drugovich UNI-Virtuosi 1:42.435 26
2 Oscar Piastri PREMA Racing 1:42.784 33
3 Marcus Armstrong DAMS 1:42.827 25
4 Robert Shwartzman PREMA Racing 1:43.268 32
5 Clément Novalak UNI-Virtuosi 1:43.411 35
6 Guilherme Samaia Charouz Racing System 1:43.612 41
7 Roy Nissany DAMS 1:43.652 32
8 Roberto Merhi BWT HWA RACELAB 1:43.665 29
9 David Beckmann Charouz Racing System 1:43.922 47
10 Matteo Nannini BWT HWA RACELAB 1:44.228 28
11 Lirim Zendeli MP Motorsport 1:45.504 38
12 Louis Deletraz MP Motorsport 1:46.787 42
13 Liam Lawson Hitech Grand Prix 1:47.218 42
14 Logan Sargeant Campos Racing 1:47.387 53
15 Marino Sato Trident 1:47.527 49
16 Jüri Vips Hitech Grand Prix 1:47.727 36
17 Théo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 1:47.914 15
18 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 1:48.074 47
19 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 1:48.236 50
20 Dan Ticktum Carlin 1:48.258 50
—  Ralph Boschung Campos Racing — 0
—  Bent Viscaal Trident — 0