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Dynamic Dutchman Nyck de Vries feels confident about returning to the kingdom for the coming grand prix weekend after setting the pace on the final day of the FIA Formula 2 test at the Bahrain International Circuit … and appreciates that the real work has yet to come.
De Vries grabbed the top spot in both sessions as he denied his rivals twice over.
“I’m a happy boy,” he said, “topped both sessions and ended P2 overall. However, the real job starts shortly!”
de Vries, 22, won the 2010 and 2011 Karting World Championships and in 2014 the Formula Renault 2.0 Alps and Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup Championships.
He is managed by Anthony Hamilton, father of F1 former world champion Lewis, and was signed to the McLaren young driver programme in January 2010.
Firstly, he recorded a time of 1:40.583, just seven thousands ahead of Nobuharu Matsushita and Oliver Rowland, in the morning session, and with an afternoon time of 1:41.880, ahead of Rapax teammate Johnny Cecotto and Norman Nato.
The morning session opened under overcast conditions and slightly cooler temperatures than seen for the last two days, with de Vries clearly enjoying the elements as he set the early pace.
The PREMA pair of Charles Leclerc and Antonio Fuoco soon took over on top, with the Italian the first to drop below 1:41.
At the one hour mark the previous day’s quickest driver Nicholas Latifi grabbed the top spot, but teammate Oliver Rowland had his eye on the prize: the Briton dethroned the Canadian by just eight hundredths, with Matsushita soon splitting the DAMS pair, indicating the fine margins between the teams, but with just over a half an hour remaining de Vries stole past them all, grabbing P1 by just 0.007s and one of seven drivers to finish within 1:40.000.
Following a one hour break the pit lane was green again, with de Vries the first man on track as he looked to resume hostilities.
Artem Markelov topped the timesheets in the opening stages before the Pertamina Arden of Sean Gelael and Nato took over, but on the one hour mark Cecotto went top, ahead of de Vries and Nato.
The Dutchman bided his time before striking in the final hour, again grabbing the top spot with Nato closing in to P2, but Cecotto reclaimed the position just before the chequered flag to hand his Rapax team a 1-2 in the final session.
The opening round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, to be run in Bahrain as part of the F1 package of support races, take place on April 14-16.
