Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Hitech GP’s Paul Aron continued his form from Friday’s free practice by taking his fourth Formula 2 pole of the season during a thrilling qualifying session at Losail.
Aron led several times as lap times tumbled throughout the 30-minute session, and he produced a late effort that left him 0.3 seconds clear of championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto.
Invicta Racing’s Bortoleto posted a benchmark of 1m38.317s in the early stages of the session, with Bearman soon lowering the pace to a 1m38.065s to lead ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins by 0.1s. Aron moved to the top on his first effort by almost 0.4s, while Trident’s debutant Max Esterson showed impressive early speed in fourth.
Bortoleto reclaimed first place with a 1m36.914s, while MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor climbed to third ahead of DAMS driver Jak Crawford. Bearman was next to lead the way with a 1m36.842s, but he was soon edged by Aron who went quickest once more by less than 0.03s. As Aron headed for the pitlane to take on fresh tyres, Bortoleto went fastest again with a 1m36.586s.
Drivers commenced their second tyre runs in the final 10 minutes, and the order at the top continued to change. Aron lowered the pace to a 1m35.427s, while Bortoleto improved on his own personal best by 0.1s but remained in second. The pair were then separated by MP’s Oliver Goethe, while Verschoor leapt ahead with a new best of 1m36.070s.
Aron responded with a blistering 1m35.427s lap to beat Verschoor’s effort by 0.6s, and Bortoleto moved back up to second on his final effort. Martins ended the session a further 0.1s behind in third, while Dino Beganovic improved on his final lap to end his first F2 qualifying in fourth.
Verschoor slipped to fifth despite also going quicker on his final lap, with Crawford and Invicta’s Kush Maini sixth and seventh. Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar briefly moved ahead of title rival Bortoleto in the closing stages but was eventually shuffled back to ninth, one place behind Goethe.
Having tumbled all the way down to 17th, Bearman snatched 10th from team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli on his final effort to provisionally take reversed-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race. Esterson was 13th ahead of ART’s Luke Browning, who spun off late on. Of the other debutants, John Bennett (Van Amersfoort Racing) qualified 19th and Cian Shields (AIX Racing) was 22nd.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | 1m35.115s | 13 | |
| 2 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta Racing | 1m35.450s | +0.335s | 14 |
| 3 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 1m35.570s | +0.455s | 15 |
| 4 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS | 1m35.772s | +0.657s | 14 |
| 5 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | 1m35.847s | +0.732s | 15 |
| 6 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | 1m36.095s | +0.980s | 13 |
| 7 | Kush Maini | Invicta Racing | 1m36.100s | +0.985s | 14 |
| 8 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport | 1m36.151s | +1.036s | 15 |
| 9 | Isack Hadjar | Campos Racing | 1m36.187s | +1.072s | 14 |
| 10 | Ollie Bearman | Prema | 1m36.214s | +1.099s | 13 |
| 11 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema | 1m36.436s | +1.321s | 12 |
| 12 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | 1m36.476s | +1.361s | 14 |
| 13 | Max Esterson | Trident | 1m36.725s | +1.610s | 13 |
| 14 | Luke Browning | ART Grand Prix | 1m36.729s | +1.614s | 13 |
| 15 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin Motorsport | 1m36.756s | +1.641s | 14 |
| 16 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX Racing | 1m36.845s | +1.730s | 14 |
| 17 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Motorsport | 1m36.861s | +1.746s | 12 |
| 18 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | 1m37.041s | +1.926s | 13 |
| 19 | John Bennett | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m37.278s | +2.163s | 14 |
| 20 | Christian Mansell | Trident | 1m37.389s | +2.274s | 12 |
| 21 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m38.052s | +2.937s | 15 |
| 22 | Cian Shields | AIX Racing | 1m38.336s | +3.221s | 13 |