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MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich took his first Formula 2 pole position at Silverstone, while points leader Robert Shwartzman stumbled to 18th and faces an investigation.
F2 rookie Drugovich earned MP’s first ever pole in the second tier of single-seaters with a stunning 1m39.527s lap, which was over six tenths quicker than the benchmark at the period of the session he set it in.
The 20-year-old Brazilian won on only his second F2 start at the Red Bull Ring, and is now sixth in the points.
Virtuosi Racing’s Callum Ilott proved to be his closest challenger, but the Ferrari junior could only get to within 0.139s of pole.
Prema’s Mick Schumacher had his first qualifying flying lap blocked by Trident’s Roy Nissany into Vale but recovered to sit seventh after the first qualifying runs.
He improved to third place by the chequered flag, one tenth clear of FIA Formula 3 graduate Christian Lundgaard, with Hitech GP’s Nikita Mazepin earning his best qualifying position of the year in fifth.
Campos Racing’s Jack Aitken recovered from a miserable practice session to set the sixth-quickest time ahead of Red Bull junior Jehan Daruvala, who had led the session for Carlin after the first qualifying runs.
Virtuosi’s Renault junior Guanyu Zhou suffered his worst qualifying performance of the season in eighth, while Daruvala’s team-mate Yuki Tsunoda was unable to replicate his practice pacesetting pace in ninth place.
Louis Deletraz matched his best qualifying of the year in 10th place for Charouz Racing System, beating Drugovich’s MP team-mate Nobuharu Matsushita.
Dan Ticktum was the leading DAMS driver in 12th place, ahead of Hungaroring sprint race winner Luca Ghiotto and Deletraz’s team-mate Pedro Piquet.
Shwartzman appeared to block Sean Gelael on the run to Stowe and the two narrowly avoided a collision. Prema driver Shwartzman is under investigation, but struggled for pace regardless and will line up in 18th place at best if he is not proved guilty for the incident.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 1m39.527s | 12 | |
| 2 | Callum Ilott | Virtuosi Racing | 1m39.666s | +0.139s | 12 |
| 3 | Mick Schumacher | Prema | 1m39.761s | +0.234s | 11 |
| 4 | Christian Lundgaard | ART Grand Prix | 1m39.846s | +0.319s | 12 |
| 5 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | 1m39.963s | +0.436s | 11 |
| 6 | Jack Aitken | Campos Racing | 1m40.082s | +0.555s | 11 |
| 7 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1m40.140s | +0.613s | 12 |
| 8 | Guanyu Zhou | Virtuosi Racing | 1m40.180s | +0.653s | 12 |
| 9 | Yuki Tsunoda | Carlin | 1m40.216s | +0.689s | 12 |
| 10 | Louis Deletraz | Charouz Racing System | 1m40.324s | +0.797s | 13 |
| 11 | Nobuharu Matsushita | MP Motorsport | 1m40.347s | +0.820s | 12 |
| 12 | Dan Ticktum | DAMS | 1m40.396s | +0.869s | 12 |
| 13 | Luca Ghiotto | Hitech GP | 1m40.421s | +0.894s | 12 |
| 14 | Pedro Piquet | Charouz Racing System | 1m40.443s | +0.916s | 13 |
| 15 | Marcus Armstrong | ART Grand Prix | 1m40.448s | +0.921s | 11 |
| 16 | Sean Gelael | DAMS | 1m40.476s | +0.949s | 11 |
| 17 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1m40.958s | +1.431s | 12 |
| 18 | Robert Shwartzman | Prema | 1m41.047s | +1.520s | 12 |
| 19 | Roy Nissany | Trident | 1m41.052s | +1.525s | 12 |
| 20 | Giuliano Alesi | HWA Racelab | 1m41.274s | +1.747s | 12 |
| 21 | Artem Markelov | HWA Racelab | 1m41.342s | +1.815s | 12 |
| 22 | Guilherme Samaia | Campos Racing | 1m42.204s | +2.677s | 11 |