Ollie Goethe has stormed to his first Formula 2 pole position in the series’ penultimate round at the Qatar Grand Prix.
In their second visit to Qatar, the young F2 drivers had just 30 minutes to find the pace needed to secure the penultimate pole position of 2025.
With five drivers in contention for the title, this session was crucial to all title contenders as they needed to start ahead of their rivals.
As the session began, drivers spent the first five minutes of qualifying getting their tyres up to the needed temperature.
However, as the first flying laps began, it was championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli who set the pace early. The Italian set a 1:37.850s.
Meanwhile, Kush Maini and Laurens Van Hoepen had minor exploratory moments in the gravel traps of the circuit, but both drivers managed to continue.
As the session continued, both MP Motorsport cars of Goethe and Richard Verschoor proved to be strong, topping the timing sheets momentarily.
That was until the Invicta pairing reclaimed their top spots, as Fornaroli set a 1:236.996s, with his team-mate 0.193s seconds behind.
Further back, the Hitech cars of Luke Browning and Dino Beganovic struggled in the Qatar heat, finishing the first run in 17th and 18th, respectively.
With a little over 10 minutes remaining in the penultimate qualifying session, the drivers ventured back out on track for their final flying lap times.
Trident rookie James Wharton had a nightmare. The Australian was unable to set a qualifying lap time until the last few minutes of the session, due to a mechanical failure.
Dino Beganovic set the pace early in the second runs with a 1:36.826s.
However, the Italian of Fornaroli took five-tenths out of the Swede’s early lap time, placing himself back in the prime position for the Qatar Grand Prix weekend.
Meanwhile, Richard Verschoor moved his way back up to fourth, crucial for his championship hopes.
Fornaroli continued to find pace in Qatar and claimed the top spot once more. Not for long, though, as Goethe soared to pole position, a mere four hundredths faster.
In the final minutes, there were improvements throughout the field, with rookies and title fighters all fighting for crucial starting places throughout the weekend.
With a commanding lap, Goethe took his first-ever F2 pole position in Qatar. Behind him was championship leader Fornaroli and Victor Martins in third.
Championship contender Richard Verschoor would start tomorrow’s Sprint off reverse-grid pole.
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