Home News Vandoorne takes pole in chaotic Sunday qualifying

Vandoorne takes pole in chaotic Sunday qualifying

by Valentin Khorounzhiy

Photo: Renault Sport

After cruising to victory on Saturday, Stoffel Vandoorne was once again the performer of the session in Sunday qualifying, taking pole in the red-flagged event.

While the 30-minute run was abound with chaos and mistakes, as two red flags, brought out by Arthur Pic and Oliver Webb respectively, demonstrated, Vandoorne was virtually untouchable for the entire session, constantly setting benchmark times.

The last five minutes of the session were a dash for pole after a red flag, but the drivers didn’t even get that much, as another red flag stoppage concluded the run with nine seconds before the checkered.

Shockingly, it was Will Stevens who posted the second fastest time, after staying in the pits for most of the session with mechanical problems. Kevin Magnussen was third while Nico Muller took fourth.

Webb clocked in the fifth best-time and spun in the same corner as Norman Nato due to oil on track, effectively ending the session. Sergey Sirotkin was sixth, ahead of Andre Negrao and Christopher Zanella. Mikhail Aleshin and Daniil Move posted the last two times in the top ten, but are currently under investigation.

The session only saw 25 drivers take part as Lucas Foresti‘s car could not be repared as a result of the crash in the Saturday race.

Session results
Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Stoffel Vandoorne Fortec Motorsports 1:20.025 14
2 Will Stevens P1 by Strakka Racing 1:20.440 +0.415 9
3 Kevin Magnussen DAMS 1:20.472 +0.447 17
4 Nico Muller International Draco Racing 1:20.475 +0.450 15
5 Oliver Webb Fortec Motorsports 1:20.490 +0.465 13
6 Sergey Sirotkin ISR 1:20.528 +0.503 15
7 Andre Negrao International Draco Racing 1:20.552 +0.527 15
8 Christopher Zanella ISR 1:20.639 +0.614 14
9 Mikhail Aleshin Tech 1 Racing 1:20.643 +0.618 15
10 Daniil Move SMP Racing by Comtec 1:20.661 +0.636 14
11 Pietro Fantin Arden Caterham 1:20.713 +0.688 18
12 Matias Laine P1 by Strakka Racing 1:20.720 +0.695 16
13 Antonio Felix da Costa Arden Caterham 1:20.809 +0.784 14
14 Nigel Melker Tech 1 Racing 1:20.952 +0.927 16
15 William Buller Zeta Corse 1:21.109 +1.084 13
16 Norman Nato DAMS 1:21.177 +1.152 16
17 Marco Sorensen Lotus 1:21.326 +1.301 15
18 Zoel Amberg Pons Racing 1:21.487 +1.462 14
19 Marlon Stockinger Lotus 1:21.496 +1.471 15
20 Jazeman Jaafar Carlin 1:21.691 +1.666 16
21 Nikolay Martsenko Pons Racing 1:21.855 +1.830 13
22 Mihai Marinescu Zeta Corse 1:21.996 +1.971 15
23 Arthur Pic AV Formula 1:22.016 +1.991 10
24 Carlos Huertas Carlin 1:22.139 +2.114 15
25 Yann Cunha AV Formula 1:22.381 +2.356 15

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