Hauger edges Duerksen to pole in tight F2 qualifying at Red Bull Ring

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger scored his second pole of the season in Formula 2 qualifying at the Red Bull Ring while early pacesetter Isack Hadjar suffered reliability woes.

Hauger edged AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen by just 0.008 seconds, while Virtuosi Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto was third and Hitech GP’s points leader Paul Aron qualified fifth despite a late spin.

There was drama in the pitlane as soon as qualifying started, with AIX’s Taylor Barnard stalling after Aron was released in front of him, and the incident was referred to the stewards for investigation after the session.

Hauger posted an opening benchmark of 1m16.412s but he was immediately edged by Bortoleto. Aron was next to lead the way with a 1m16.039s and Hadjar soon moved to the top with a 1m15.828s. As the session approached the halfway stage, Hauger improved on his own personal best to hold third ahead of Bortoleto and ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins.

Hadjar’s session was ended prematurely by a suspected engine failure, with smoke billowing from the rear of his car as he returned to the pitlane, and the Campos Racing driver was shuffled down the order to seventh in the final few minutes.

Hauger posted a 1m15.487s on his second run to move to the top by 0.3s over team-mate Franco Colapinto and Aron, who both also improved, before Bortoleto reduced Hauger’s advantage to 0.114s. Duerksen pipped Bortoleto to second by 0.003s, and he went even faster on his final lap but it was not enough to seal his maiden pole.

Colapinto ended the session in fourth ahead of Aron, who spun exiting turn six as he tried to improve his time. Barnard moved up the order on his second run to take sixth. Pepe Marti (who was disqualified from practice) was one spot behind his team-mate Hadjar, with Prema’s Ollie Bearman ninth ahead of Virtuosi’s Kush Maini, who is due to start from reversed-grid pole in the sprint race.

Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney, who begins the weekend third in the standings, spent most of the session down the order and will start both races from 20th.

Qualifying results