Bearman survives contact with wall to take dramatic F2 pole in Baku

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Prema’s Ollie Bearman took a dramatic pole position for Formula 2’s feature race in Baku, as the top spot changed hands four times within the space of 10 seconds at the end of the session.

The Ferrari junior, who had set the pace in free practice earlier in the day, looked to have lost his shot at the top spot after hitting the wall at Turn 2, damaging the steering.

On being told that he had qualifying first, an incredulous Bearman told his team over the radio: “No way, that was the scariest lap of my life!”

Rodin Carlin’s Enzo Fittipaldi took second ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Theo Pourchaire and Prema’s Frederik Vesti, the top four covered  by only 0.071 seconds.

After a lengthy red flag caused by PHM Racing by Charouz’s Ben Benavides hitting the Tecpro barrier on the exit of Turn 1, the field jostled for track position and to maximise any possible tow on the Baku circuit’s long final straight.

At one point, Fittipaldi almost brough half the pack to a complete standstill as he backed off completely.

It was Vesti who set the immediate pace, jumping to the top with a 1m53.271s lap, with Pourchaire slotting into second.

With the chequered flag already flying, MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger went fastest before being immediately demoted by Vesti. However, it was Fittipaldi who seemed to be on track to take honours with the fastest time in the first sector.

The Red Bull junior’s lap was enough to beat Vesti’s time by 0.059s before Bearman, the next car to cross the line, pipped them both by just 0.012s.

Isack Hadjar was forced to miss most of the session, having been another to clip a wall, this time on the inside of Turn 5, damaging his car’s suspension.

Rejoining the session after the red flag, he was the first to set a flying lap, briefly jumping up to 10th before the late improvements throughout the field dropped him back to 18th at the close.

DAMS’ pairing of Ayumu Iwasa and Arthur Leclerc were caught out by the late traffic and failed to cross the line in time to start a final flying lap, leaving championship leader Iwasa in 17th, four places behind his team-mate.

Qualifying results