Alex Dunne sealed the F2 pole position in qualifying 1, while Rodin Motorsport teammate Martinius Stenshorne roared to pole in qualifying 2 at the Azerbaijan GP.
F2 took inspiration from Formula 3’s additional sessions in Madrid and made the Azerbaijan GP ‘supersized’. With one Free Practice, two qualifying sessions, one Sprint Race, and two Feature Races, the F2 drivers had a long weekend ahead of them.
Each qualifying session was set for 20 minutes, and drivers had only a few moments to prepare for the jump from qualifying 1 to qualifying 2. The first session set the grid for the Sprint Race and the first Feature Race, while the second session decided the order for the second Feature Race.
Green lights for Qualifying 1
After a delayed start due to track inspection, the pack were finally ready. 20 minutes ticked down as the 22 drivers prepared to set the grid for the Baku weekend. Because the time was reduced from the usual 30 minutes to 20 minutes due to two sessions instead of one, the drivers had less time for their flying laps.
When the track was clear, Oliver Goethe led the field onto the track. After getting in their warm-up laps, Goethe set an early benchmark of 1:59.374. The other drivers quickly knocked down his time as they headed into their flying laps. The track was expected to continue evolving, as the conditions were still not optimal.
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak was close to the wall at the exit of Turn 15, but managed to avoid clipping it.
At the halfway point of qualifying 1, the pack closed in tightly, eager to get a tow. While Alex Dunne held the top spot with an early 1:55.383, Nikola Tsolov and Gabriele Mini made their way through the field, narrowly avoiding contact with each other. Tsolov attempted to go all out and suffered a brief touch to the wall. Meanwhile, Mini looked close to losing control of the MP car before he managed to save it.
Noel Leon moved up to third with a solid lap, while Martinius Stenshorne set a purple sector three to jump to second, just 0.033 seconds behind Dunne.
The first yellow flag of the session came in the final four minutes, when Mini and Dunne briefly went off track. As the track went green, it was a fight against time. With a tow from Joshua Duerksen and a solid lap, Rafael Camara climbed up to fifth.
Qualifying 1 concluded with Dunne still on top after having sealed pole position early in the session. Stenshorne and Leon were close behind, joining the top three.
In the final moments, Dino Beganovic posted a strong lap with a purple middle sector, but without a tow, he couldn’t go higher than eighth. Further back, championship leader Tsolov finished P10, putting himself on reverse-grid pole. Mini also had a tough session, finishing P14, while Camara secured P5.
Qualifying 2
After a few moments to regroup, the pack took on the second qualifying session in Baku.
Emmerson Fittipaldi set an early benchmark of 1:56.960. Meanwhile, Mini was eager to post a strong lap after a tough first qualifying. The MP driver looked set for a strong lap and set a 1.55.479. However, as the track evolved, more and more of the pack began setting purple sectors.
Further back, Colton Herta’s difficult time continued when he suffered a full spin. Fortunutely, the driver was able to save the Hitech car without an incident.
At the halfway point, Camara was on top with a lap time of 1:54.227. Leon trailed by two tenths, while Dunne lurked in third. Mini kept trying to improve, however, luck wasn’t on the MP driver’s side, as he repeatedly failed to reach the top ten in the session. Meanwhile, Sebastian Montoya suffered a big lock-up.
The heat intensified as Goethe eagerly climbed up the field. Still, both MP drivers struggled, as the Red Bull junior improved only from P17 to P16. Leon was out of the car with four minutes of qualifying left. With a P2, the Campos team seemed confident he had done enough to secure the front row. However, F2 always brings more surprises.
Mari Boya went purple in sector one, and it looked to be a strong lap from the PREMA driver. Meanwhile, Maini showed great consistency in his lap as he climbed up the field. The ART driver was second before Boya bumped him down to P3 with his strong lap.
Once again, Dunne showed his speed, taking the provisional pole from Camara with a 1:54.173. A surprise came in the form of Stenshorne, who soared across the line with a time of 1:53.728 to take the pole from his teammate. The weekend was set to be a Rodin Motorsport front-row lock-out in both Feature Races. Camara was set to line up behind them, accompanied by Boya on the second row.
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