Frederick Vesti took his maiden pole position in the FIA Formula 2 Championship on Saturday, as he bested the field at the Red Bull Ring.
Vesti, who races for ART Grand Prix and is backed by the Mercedes Formula 1 programme, was just marginally faster than Juri Vips at the end of the session, who had to settle for second.
The gap between the two was just 0.035s.
Logan Sargeant, who took pole position and the Feature Race victory last time out at Silverstone, was third fastest.
Ayumu Iwasa was the last driver on the track to set a hot lap, and he looked to be on course to displace those at the very top – however after losing time in the final sector, he slotted into fourth place.
Championship leader Felipe Drugovich was fifth for MP Motorsport, ahead of Jack Doohan in sixth.
After being banned from the Silverstone round for exceeding 12 penalty points in the 2022 season, Amaury Cordeel produced his strongest drive to date.
The Belgian driver, who is bottom of the Drivers’ Championship, crossed the line to set the seventh fastest lap time.
Richard Verschoor was eighth, ahead of Theo Pourchaire.
Marcus Armstrong will start Saturday’s Sprint Race from reverse grid pole position after ending the session in 10th.
Saturday’s Sprint Race will get underway at 17:55 local time.
