PREMA Racing completed its first official test with the brand-new FIA Formula 2 machinery today, after the shakedown held at the end of January at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Ollie Bearman and Kimi Antonelli had the chance to get on-track for a three-day session, which also featured the FIA Formula 3 cars, at the same location where they will enter the season opener, Bahrain International Circuit. The venue featured uncharacteristic wet weather in the opening day, but sunny skies returned on day 2 to make up the ground lost.
As always happens with new cars, Bahrain featured a wide range of tests aimed at both qualifying and race simulation conditions, as both Bearman and Antonelli swiftly adapted to the upgraed package. Both the race-winning Brit and the Italian, who is entering his rookie season, progressively increased their chemistry with the car.
The team will be back on-track in two weeks for Round 1 of the championship.
#3 – Ollie Bearman
“It was nice to start the season in Bahrain, it’s been a long wait. The test was tough with the new car, as we had a lot to cycle through. Day 1 was pretty much thrown away because of the weather, but after that, we managed to work quite a lot on day 2 and day 3. Still not quite where we want to be, we need to do some work to find some performance, but especially this track seems to be a bit of a tough one for us. A lot to work to do before the first round, but I have no doubt we can get there.”
#4 – Kimi Antonelli
“Just finished the first three days of testing here in Bahrain. The opening day was quite uncommon as we got a full day of rain, but it was nice to get some driving on the wet to understand how the car and tyres were behaving. It was productive. On Day 2, I drove for the first time on this track on the dry, so there was a lot to discover in the first few sessions. I think I got up to pace quite well, even though we struggled a bit with the set-up. In the end, we improved quite a lot on the harder tyres, and I was happy with the balance. On the last day, the pace and feeling were not bad too. It was good to have a first baseline with the car, we now have time to analyze, and we will come back in two weeks.”