Prema driver and Formula 2 championship leader Charles Leclerc strolled to a fifth consecutive pole position of the 2017 season in Austria.
Leclerc was the pacesetter in F2 practice at the Red Bull Ring on Friday morning, backing that up with a stunning showing in the 30-minute qualifying session.
He led the way early on before improving his benchmark with three minutes to go, putting in a 1:13.396 to go almost three and a half tenths clear of the field.
The Monegasque racer secured his fifth pole of the year to continue his qualifying clean-sweep, with MP Motorsport’s Sergio Sette Camara rounding out the front row.
Update: Sergio Sette Camara stripped of second place in Austria
However, he did bring out the yellow flags in the final moments, ending in the gravel at the exit of Turn 8.
Antonio Fuoco was third quickest in the second Prema, while Alexander Albon returned from skipping a round due to injury and qualified fourth for ART.
Oliver Rowland was fifth quickest for DAMS, ahead of Nobuharu Matushita, who made a late improvement in his ART car.
Nyck de Vries and Luca Ghiotto were seventh and eighth, with Nicholas Latifi ninth and Norman Nato escaping a close call with Artem Markelov mid-way through the session to take 10th on the grid.
Ralph Boschung, Louis Deletraz and Jordan King were next up, with Sergio Canamasas – switching teams once again, driving for Rapax – in 14th.
Experienced GP2 racer Raffaele Marciello made his F2 debut for Trident and qualified 17th.
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