Norris quickest on second morning at Le Castellet

Lando Norris led the way in the second morning of FIA Formula 2 pre-season testing at Le Castellet, France, continuing his tenure at the top of the timesheets and setting a 1:42.226 to lead a Carlin 1-2 ahead of teammate Sergio Sette Camara.

Trident’s Arjun Maini was the first to take to the circuit, followed in hot pursuit by Sette Camara. Seeking to get plenty of dry running early in the breezy, sunny conditions, the majority of the field were out of the blocks within the first ten minutes, trading fastest times as the track conditions improved with the flurry of activity.

Jack Aitken of ART Grand Prix took the early advantage 20 minutes into the session, beating Norris’ best time from yesterday by half a second, before PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing’s Nyck De Vries hit back to beat the Brit to top spot. A first red flag came out approaching the end of the first half-hour – MP Motorsport’s Roberto Merhi came to a stop at turn 12 – with a second stoppage coming courtesy of Sean Gelael (PERTAMINA PREMA) later on.

Finding more time, Aitken became the first driver to break into the 1m42s times, before going even faster on his next tour of the circuit. Maini got within two tenths as the first half of the session drew to a close.

Fastest on day 1, Norris returned to the top of the standings with 0.3s in hand over Aitken, as Sette Camara continued Carlin’s strong pace on the medium compound tyres by getting within a smidgen of the ART driver’s time, before overhauling it a few laps later.

Russell stopped with 20 minutes left on the clock, bringing out a brief red flag as the session wound into its final stages. A number of drivers bolted on the supersoft tyres on their return to the circuit but few drivers were able to improve their times; Norris’ time proved to be unbeatable as a slow final sector for Sette Camara put paid to his chances to ending the morning on top.

Aitken had to be content with third, ahead of Louis Delétraz (Charouz Racing System) who took fourth with a late charge on medium tyres. Arjun Maini set the most laps of anyone with 48 tours of the circuit, and was fifth fastest ahead of Russell. Nyck De Vries beat Luca Ghiotto (Campos Vexatec Racing) to seventh, while Alexander Albon (DAMS) and Nirei Fukuzumi (BWT Arden) completed the top half of the field.