Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan topped the timesheets in a disrupted session as the FIA Formula 2 championship headed out onto the Zandvoort Park circuit for the first time in the modern history of the series.
The setting for the Dutch Grand Prix is a contrast to the humid Ardennes forest that played host to the Belgian Grand Prix. The proximity to the coast means that sand from the local beach coats the circuit overnight, making the track dusty for the opening sessions.
Amaury Cordeel set the benchmark for the session with a time of 1:25.210, shortly before his Van Amersfoort Racing teammate David Beckmann spun heading into Turn Thirteen. The dirt and dust on the entry of the corner caught the German out, leaving him on the edge of the gravel trap. Despite managing to reverse back onto the circuit and get going again, the session was red-flagged as the track was cleared of gravel.
The session would resume with 26 minutes left on the clock with Cordeel leading the way ahead of Dennis Hauger and Logan Sargeant.
It wouldn’t be long before the times started to drop as Spa-Francorchamps Feature race winner Doohan set a time of 1:24.268 to go fastest ahead of Roy Nissany by 0.029 seconds.
Theó Pourchaire had a small slide which turned into a bigger issue as he was forced to run through the gravel trap at turn Eleven/Twelve, thankfully for the Frenchman he emerged out of the other side and continued on his way.
Doohan continued to improve on his times, setting a best of 1:23.133 as Frederik Vestri and Ayumu Iwasa jumped ahead of Cordeel.
As Vestri pushed on, a small mistake saw him spin into the gravel trap on the exit of Turn Two, as the car became unsettled on the changing camber of the road, once again this brought out the red flags as the car was recovered.
With the session clock continuing while the track was cleared, the drivers were left with ten minutes remaining as the lights turned green again.
A frantic end to the session saw Doohan drop into the 1:22s for the first time as championship leader Felipe Drugovich moved into second place, shortly before being dispatched by Iwasa as he homed in on Doohan.
Jehan Daruvala had a scare as he outbraked himself and took a trip through the gravel at Turn on, thankfully for the Indian driver he managed to make it back out on track with no further disruptions to the session.
As the session came to a close it was Doohan who claimed the fastest time ahead of Iwasa by 0.323 seconds. Drugovich, Lawson, and Hauger rounded out the top five.
With focus on the importance of qualifying later today, the teams will now be doing their homework as they look to maximise their performance.