Photo: Florent Gooden / DPPI
Formula Renault 3.5’s newly-crowned champion Kevin Magnussen has maintained his streak of perfect qualifying performances as he took his fifth pole position in a row in fog-affected Sunday qualifying.
The session kicked off in low-visibility conditions and saw multiple changes at the top over the first stint of timed laps. With Magnussen taking the lead as the drivers began to pit for the usual mid-session downtime, the session was soon red-flagged as the fog became more dense.
Following 20-minutes under red flag conditions, the drivers were allowed back onto the track. However, just then, light drops of rain became visible, and, as the fog hasn’t cleared and improvement seemed unlikely, the organizers were prompted to cut the session short.
As such, Magnussen’s record streak of pole positions was up to five straight, as he will start the afternoon’s race alongside Stoffel Vandoorne.
AV Formula’s Arthur Pic secured third, with Will Stevens also on the second row. Draco’s Nico Muller completed the top five.
Christopher Zanella will start the race in sixth, ahead of Zeta’s Carlos Sainz and DAMS driver Norman Nato. Nigel Melker and another Zeta man Will Buller completed the top ten.
Session results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Kevin Magnussen | DAMS | 1:31.588 | 9 | |
| 2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | Fortec Motorsports | 1:31.705 | +0.117 | 8 |
| 3 | Arthur Pic | AV Formula | 1:31.771 | +0.183 | 7 |
| 4 | Will Stevens | P1 by Strakka Racing | 1:31.886 | +0.298 | 7 |
| 5 | Nico Muller | International Draco Racing | 1:31.949 | +0.361 | 9 |
| 6 | Christopher Zanella | ISR | 1:31.974 | +0.386 | 7 |
| 7 | Carlos Sainz, Jr. | Zeta Corse | 1:32.015 | +0.427 | 8 |
| 8 | Norman Nato | DAMS | 1:32.054 | +0.466 | 9 |
| 9 | Nigel Melker | Tech 1 Racing | 1:32.128 | +0.540 | 8 |
| 10 | William Buller | Zeta Corse | 1:32.157 | +0.569 | 7 |
| 11 | Marlon Stockinger | Lotus | 1:32.165 | +0.577 | 8 |
| 12 | Oliver Webb | Fortec Motorsports | 1:32.284 | +0.696 | 8 |
| 13 | Antonio Felix da Costa | Arden Caterham | 1:32.316 | +0.728 | 9 |
| 14 | Lucas Foresti | SMP Racing by Comtec | 1:32.372 | +0.784 | 10 |
| 15 | Sergey Sirotkin | ISR | 1:32.444 | +0.856 | 7 |
| 16 | Marco Sorensen | Lotus | 1:32.483 | +0.895 | 7 |
| 17 | Pietro Fantin | Arden Caterham | 1:32.538 | +0.950 | 9 |
| 18 | Zoel Amberg | Pons Racing | 1:32.720 | +1.132 | 8 |
| 19 | Mikhail Aleshin | Tech 1 Racing | 1:32.887 | +1.299 | 7 |
| 20 | Matias Laine | P1 by Strakka Racing | 1:32.903 | +1.315 | 7 |
| 21 | Andre Negrao | International Draco Racing | 1:32.921 | +1.333 | 8 |
| 22 | Nikolay Martsenko* | Pons Racing | 1:33.003 | +1.415 | 11 |
| 23 | Daniil Move | SMP Racing by Comtec | 1:33.034 | +1.446 | 9 |
| 24 | Carlos Huertas | Carlin | 1:33.475 | +1.887 | 8 |
| 25 | Yann Cunha | AV Formula | 1:33.761 | +2.173 | 7 |
| DNP | Jazeman Jaafar | Carlin |
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* Nikolay Martsenko will start the race in 24th due to a two-place grid drop