Alexander Dunne leads practice as Colton Herta crash ends running early

Dunne sets the pace for Rodin Motorsport

Alexander Dunne finished at the top of the timing screens for Rodin Motorsport after staying in and around the leading positions from the moment the session went green. The Irishman ultimately set the benchmark with a 1:31.957, securing the fastest time before the session was brought to an early conclusion.

The opening phase was relatively quiet. Emerson Fittipaldi was the first driver to post a time, recording a 1:34.793 for AIX Racing. As the clock moved below 30 minutes remaining, the pace increased and Noel León moved to the front for Campos Racing with a 1:32.715, 0.3 seconds ahead of Rodin’s Martinius Stenshorne.

Dunne responded on his next effort, producing a 1:32.297 to reclaim P1. Oliver Goethe then briefly took control for MP Motorsport with a 1:32.127, but Dunne immediately restored his advantage with the session’s decisive lap.

The result adds another competitive reference point ahead of qualifying; a wider look at the weekend’s Formula 2 storylines is available in the Formula 2 preview.

Herta crash brings out the red flags

With 17 minutes remaining, the red flags were displayed after Colton Herta crashed out of Turn 7. The American was out of the car and confirmed to be okay, but his Hitech car had to be removed from the circuit.

Herta caught the gravel on corner exit, which sent the car into the inside wall. The incident left insufficient time to restart the session, ensuring that Dunne’s 1:31.957 remained the reference at the chequered flag.

Goethe completed the top three alongside Nico Varrone. Nikola Tsolov was fourth, followed by Roman Bilinski, Joshua Duerksen and Stenshorne. León, Rafael Camara and Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak rounded out the top 10.

Qualifying schedule

Qualifying begins at 14:55 local time on Friday, with Dunne heading into the session as the driver to beat after a practice run decided by both outright pace and the late interruption.