Armstrong and Lawson in F2 testing this week

Kiwi drivers Marcus Armstrong and Liam Lawson along with the FIA Formula 2 Championship grid return to action tonight with testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

Running from Monday, 8 March to Wednesday, 10 March, the three days of testing will be split into a morning and afternoon session, with a total of six hours of track time available per day. The morning session will run from 9am until 12pm (local time), while the afternoon testing window will open at 2pm and run until 5pm (local time).

Teams will have the choice of both hard and soft compounds with each car assigned six sets of prime and two sets of option tyres for the test, the same allocation the drivers will receive for the opening round of the season.

Hitech Grand Prix boast an all-rookie line-up for 2021 with two Red Bull Juniors. Liam Lawson makes the step-up after an impressive season with the team in F3. He is joined by Jüri Vips, who made his debut in F2 last year in a four-round stint for DAMS, securing his first F2 podium in the process.

DAMS also have an all-new line-up for 2021 in Williams Development Driver Roy Nissany and Ferrari Driver Academy’s Marcus Armstrong. The pair will be looking to put their experience to use with the French team after studious seasons with Trident and ART last year.

Favourite for the title could well be Ferrari protégé Robert Shwartzman who retains his seat with reigning F2 Champions PREMA Racing. After an impressive rookie season that saw him finish fourth in the Drivers’ Championship, the 2019 F3 Champion returns as the highest placed driver from the 2020 campaign. Shwartzman is joined by 2020 Formula 3 Champion Oscar Piastri who makes the step-up to F2 after a stand-out campaign with PREMA in F3 last year.

The official three-day pre-season test will give teams and drivers time to prepare ahead of the season opener which will see the grid return to the Bahrain International Circuit for the first three races of the 2021 campaign on 26–28 March. 2021 will see a new round format with three races per weekend with eight rounds to be contested over the season.