Ghiotto tops low-grip practice in Baku

Published on 26 Apr 2019 09:50

By: Fergal Walsh

Luca Ghiotto has topped the opening practice session of the Formula 2 weekend in Azerbaijan, beating Nobuharu Matsushita to the top spot.

Ghiotto, who won the sprint race last time out in Bahrain, was over two-tenths ahead of the Japanese driver, who set his fastest lap at the end of the session like most of his competitors.

As it was the first on-track action of the weekend at the circuit, the very dusty surface provided a challenge for the drivers.

In the final moments of the session, Jordan King jumped into P3, ahead of Nyck de Vries and Nicholas Latifi in fourth and fifth respectively.

Yellow flags were out in abundance during the session, as many drivers took to the run-off area at Turn 1 after locking their tyres and going straight on at the heavy braking zone.

Some also had trouble at Turn 2, with Mahaveer Raghunathan struggling to turn his car back onto the circuit after running too deep.

Mick Schumacher was sixth for Prema, finishing ahead of his fellow Ferrari junior driver Callum Ilott.

Sergio Sette Camara was eighth, while Juan Manuel Correa and Sean Gelael rounded out the top ten.

Qualifying for Saturday's feature race takes place at 15:00 local time, in between the opening two practice sessions for Formula 1.

POS	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	GAP
POS 1.	DRIVER Luca Ghiotto	TEAM UNI-Virtuosi	TIME 1:56.637	GAP -
POS 2.	DRIVER Nobuharu Matsushita	TEAM Carlin	TIME 1:56.919	GAP +0.282
POS 3.	DRIVER Jordan King	TEAM MP Motorsport	TIME 1:57.023	GAP +0.386
POS 4.	DRIVER Nyck de Vries	TEAM ART Grand Prix	TIME 1:57.441	GAP +0.804
POS 5.	DRIVER Nicholas Latifi	TEAM DAMS	TIME 1:57.446	GAP +0.809
POS 6.	DRIVER Mick Schumacher	TEAM Prema Racing	TIME 1:57.576	GAP +0.939
POS 7.	DRIVER Callum Ilott	TEAM Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	TIME 1:57.887	GAP +1.250
POS 8.	DRIVER Sergio Sette Camara	TEAM DAMS	TIME 1:58.029	GAP +1.392
POS 9.	DRIVER Juan Manuel Correa	TEAM Sauber Junior Team by Charouz	TIME 1:58.273	GAP +1.636
POS 10.	DRIVER Sean Gelael	TEAM Prema Racing	TIME 1:58.377	GAP +1.740
POS 11.	DRIVER Jack Aitken	TEAM Campos Racing	TIME 1:58.647	GAP +2.010
POS 12.	DRIVER Louis Deletraz	TEAM Carlin	TIME 1:58.685	GAP +2.048
POS 13.	DRIVER Ralph Boschung	TEAM Trident	TIME 1:59.010	GAP +2.373
POS 14.	DRIVER Nikita Mazepin	TEAM ART Grand Prix	TIME 1:59.699	GAP +3.062
POS 15.	DRIVER Guanyu Zhou	TEAM UNI-Virtuosi	TIME 1:59.753	GAP +3.116
POS 16.	DRIVER Anthoine Hubert	TEAM BWT Arden	TIME 1:59.801	GAP +3.164
POS 17.	DRIVER Giuliano Alesi	TEAM Trident	TIME 1:59.994	GAP +3.357
POS 18.	DRIVER Tatiana Calderon	TEAM BWT Arden	TIME 2:01.994	GAP +5.357
POS 19.	DRIVER Dorian Boccolacci	TEAM Campos Racing	TIME 2:02.474	GAP +5.837
POS 20.	DRIVER Mahaveer Raghunathan	TEAM MP Motorsport	TIME 2:09.848	GAP +13.211