Home Formula 2 Stoffel Vandoorne sets the pace in Hungaroring practice

Stoffel Vandoorne sets the pace in Hungaroring practice

by Gruz David
Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP2 Media Service

Photo: Sam Bloxham/GP2 Media Service

GP2’s points leader Stoffel Vandoorne topped the practice session of the Hungarian round by almost half a second.

The Belgian took the lead in the early stages of the running, ending up as the only driver to dip below the 1.29s barrier.

As improvements became scarce?in the second half, the McLaren junior remained first with a lead of four tenths.

His closest pursuer was Rio Haryanto, three-time sprint race winner this year.

Alex Lynn ended the session in third, closely followed by French duo Arthur Pic and Pierre Gasly, who completed strong runs for their teams Campos and DAMS respectively.

Raffaele Marciello was sixth quickest ahead of Andre Negrao and Nick Yelloly, while Silverstone winner Sergey Sirotkin and Mitch Evans completed the top ten.

Championship runner-up Alexander Rossi ended up 11th, a second slower than pace-setter Vandoorne.

Nicholas Latifi, who returns after taking part in the final round last year, and debutant Sean Gelael completed the practice in 25th and 26th respectively.

Session results
Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 1:28.969 20
2 Rio Haryanto Campos Racing 1:29.384 0.415 18
3 Alex Lynn DAMS 1:29.499 0.530 21
4 Arthur Pic Campos Racing 1:29.552 0.583 18
5 Pierre Gasly DAMS 1:29.562 0.593 20
6 Raffaele Marciello Trident 1:29.742 0.773 21
7 Andre Negrao Arden International 1:29.797 0.828 19
8 Nick Yelloly Hilmer Motorsport 1:29.856 0.887 19
9 Sergey Sirotkin Rapax 1:29.873 0.904 21
10 Mitch Evans Russian Time 1:29.939 0.970 19
11 Alexander Rossi Racing Engineering 1:29.971 1.002 17
12 Jordan King Racing Engineering 1:30.073 1.104 19
13 Norman Nato Arden International 1:30.164 1.195 17
14 Daniel de Jong MP Motorsport 1:30.375 1.406 19
15 Julian Leal Carlin 1:30.475 1.506 18
16 Richie Stanaway Status Grand Prix 1:30.575 1.606 18
17 Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:30.578 1.609 19
18 Robert Visoiu Rapax 1:30.763 1.794 19
19 Rene Binder Trident 1:30.802 1.833 17
20 Artem Markelov Russian Time 1:30.902 1.933 17
21 Nathanael Berthon Daiko Team Lazarus 1:30.930 1.961 15
22 Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:30.954 1.985 18
23 Sergio Canamasas Hilmer Motorsport 1:31.107 2.138 18
24 Zoel Amberg Daiko Team Lazarus 1:31.575 2.606 12
25 Nicholas Latifi MP Motorsport 1:31.674 2.705 20
26 Sean Gelael Carlin 1:32.200 3.231 22