Trident’s Richard Verschoor took pole position for the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race on Sunday after a frantic last lap qualifying battle after the session was halted by a bizarre red flag incident.
The Dutchman nabbed top spot with a time of 1:54.857 from Kimi Antonelli, who looked to be heading for P1.
Victor Martins will start in third, with Zane Maloney fourth, Kush Maini fifth and Gabriel Bortoleto sixth. Joshua Durksen qualified in seventh, with Jak Crawford ninth. Eighth and tenth will be occupied by debutants Gabriele Mini and Christian Mansell, with fellow first-timer Luke Browning also impressing in 11th.
This means Mansell will line-up for the Sprint Race, his first taste of racing action in the competition, in first.
Isack Hadjar set the early pace with a 1:57.423, but was quickly displaced by 10 others as the rubber began to be laid down and times tumbling. Verschoor would go top as the yellow flags briefly went out with Dennis Hauger spinning off in the second sector.
Drivers began to improve their times, with Verschoor bettering his time with a 1:55.655, with Martins not far behind, the Frenchman’s ART necessitating a repair job after suffering a front brake fire before the start of qualifying. Antonelli was sitting in third just under half-a-second adrift.
With drivers pitting ready for a second run, the business end of the session was curtailed by the red flag being brought out after an unusual incident, with Campos drivers of Pepe Marti and Hadjar locking-up and careering off into the barrier at the run-off at T1. The session was delayed for just under ten minutes whilst the barrier received necessary repair. Hadjar was placed under investigation for causing a red flag.
The session resumed with just over four laps remaining, giving drivers enough time for one more flying lap, leaving them without enough time to get their fresh tyres up to an optimum temperature.
Antonelli was then blistering, taking three tenths out of the fastest first sector, going six tenths quicker in the second. Maini went quickest, then Maloney, with Antonelli then going predictably fastest, but then Verschoor, quickest for much of the half-hour, took it off of him at the last by one one hundredth of a second, the change in driver order happening within a matter of seconds.
The session leaves title leader Hadjar in danger with Bortoleto and Maloney looking in better shape for the races ahead.
