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De Vries sweeps first day of F2 testing

ART Grand Prix driver Nyck de Vries topped both sessions of the opening day of Formula 2 pre-season testing at Jerez.

Nyck De Vries, ART Grand Prix

Nyck De Vries, ART Grand Prix

Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

The Dutchman, who will be tackling his third season in the Formula 1 support category, set the best lap of the day's six hours of track time in the closing minutes of the afternoon session.

His 1m25.358s effort – an almost half-second improvement on the lap that secured him the top spot in the morning – left de Vries 0.369s clear of Williams F1 reserve driver Nicholas Latifi, who is continuing in F2 with DAMS.

European F3 champion Mick Schumacher was the top rookie on the day, as the Ferrari-backed Prema driver finished within half a tenth behind Latifi.

McLaren test and development driver Sergio Sette Camara had been a close second to de Vries in the morning session, despite spinning to cause a red flag.

The Brazilian didn't improve in the afternoon, but his prior laptime was good enough to put a second DAMS car in the top four in the day's overall classification.

Virtuosi driver Luca Ghiotto, fourth in both sessions, propped up the top five in the combined rankings as the final driver to lap below 1m26s.

Louis Deletraz was sixth-fastest overall for Carlin, heading a pair of rookies in GP3 runner-up Nikita Mazepin (ART) and F3-graduating Renault junior Guan Yu Zhou (Virtuosi).

Dorian Boccolacci, taking the Campos seat that's yet to be filled for the season alongside the already-confirmed Jack Aitken, was slowest in the afternoon, but his morning laptime was good enough for ninth on the day.

Ferrari junior Callum Ilott made up Wednesday's top 10 for the Sauber-affiliated Charouz squad.

MP Motorsport, the sole team yet to officially fill either of its seats for 2019, fielded IndyCar refugee Jordan King and rookie Richard Verschoor in the test.

Verschoor was the faster of the two by a couple of tenths in both sessions, as King suffered an afternoon on-track stoppage to bring out the red flag.

Tatiana Calderon, who tested for Sauber in F1 last year and confirmed her F2 entry with BWT Arden last week, propped up the timesheets, and was left adrift of the pack due to her morning laptimes being erased for running an underweight car.

Session results

Pos. Driver Team AM PM
1 Nyck de Vries ART Grand Prix 1:25.819 1:25.358
2 Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1:25.964 1:25.727
3 Mick Schumacher Prema Racing 1:26.326 1:25.783
4 Sergio Sette Camara DAMS 1:25.874 1:26.579
5 Luca Ghiotto UNI-Virtuosi 1:26.082 1:25.887
6 Louis Deletraz Carlin 1:26.217 1:26.512
7 Nikita Mazepin ART Grand Prix 1:26.910 1:26.230
8 Guan Yu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 1:26.349 1:26.593
9 Dorian Boccolacci Campos Racing 1:26.430 1:28.903
10 Callum Ilott Sauber/Charouz 1:26.508 1:26.573
11 Giuliano Alesi Trident 1:26.744 1:26.577
12 Sean Gelael Prema Racing 1:26.614 1:26.733
13 Nobuharu Matsushita Carlin 1:27.167 1:26.625
14 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 1:26.657 1:27.102
15 Juan Manuel Correa Sauber/Charouz 1:26.742 1:26.882
16 Jordan King MP Motorsport 1:26.869 1:27.317
17 Anthoine Hubert BWT Arden 1:26.908 1:27.551
18 Jack Aitken Campos Racing 1:27.027 1:27.227
19 Ralph Boschung Trident 1:27.682 1:27.076
20 Tatiana Calderon BWT Arden   1:28.515
Nobuharu Matsushita, Carlin

Nobuharu Matsushita, Carlin

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Jack Aitken, Campos Racing

Jack Aitken, Campos Racing

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Juan Manuel Correa, Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

Juan Manuel Correa, Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Jordan King, MP Motorsport

Jordan King, MP Motorsport

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Tatiana Calderon, Arden

Tatiana Calderon, Arden

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Ralph Boschung, Trident

Ralph Boschung, Trident

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Mick Schumacher, Prema Racing

Mick Schumacher, Prema Racing

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Nikita Mazepin (RUS, ART Grand Prix)

Nikita Mazepin (RUS, ART Grand Prix)

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Nicholas Latifi, DAMS

Nicholas Latifi, DAMS

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Louis Deletraz, Carlin

Louis Deletraz, Carlin

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Luca Ghiotto, UNI-Virtuosi

Luca Ghiotto, UNI-Virtuosi

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Sean Gelael, Prema Racing

Sean Gelael, Prema Racing

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Richard Verschoor, MP Motorsport

Richard Verschoor, MP Motorsport

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Giuliano Alesi, Trident

Giuliano Alesi, Trident

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Sean Gelael, Prema Racing

Sean Gelael, Prema Racing

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Callum Ilott, Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

Callum Ilott, Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Callum Ilott, Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

Callum Ilott, Sauber Junior Team by Charouz

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Anthoine Hubert, Arden

Anthoine Hubert, Arden

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

Sergio Sette Camara, DAMS

Sergio Sette Camara, DAMS

Photo by: Joe Portlock / Motorsport Images

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