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Formula 2 qualifying at Silverstone saw mixed results for the top drivers in the championship.
Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar took pole position at the Silverstone Circuit ahead of Victor Martins and Dennis Hauger, while championship leader Paul Aron sits outside the top ten.
How it happened
There was rain in Formula 3 qualifying, but the track was dry again by the time that the 22 Formula 2 drivers made their way onto the track. But with the threat of more rain still looming over the track, drivers were anxious to get a lap in as soon as possible.
MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger was the first driver to set a fast lap and take provisional pole, but his first time was quickly displaced by Kush Maini, then by Zane Maloney, then by Oliver Bearman.
Championship leader Paul Aron’s first lap was good enough for second place, +0.040s to Bearman’s time.
The second round of laps went much the same way, Hauger being the first to re-take the top spot as Gabriel Bortoleto improved from tenth to second.
Then Maini re-took provisional pole, before Aron set a 1:40.181 and went to first place. And with Maini, O’Sullivan, Maloney, and Hauger completing the top five, everyone came back into the pits to take a break and change tyres.
Final laps
With less than ten minutes to go, all 22 drivers were back on track. That was when Aron, leading the championship and sitting on provisional pole, made a mistake and spun on the track, effectively ruining the rest of his session.
As final lap times started to come through, Hauger once again took the top spot, and once again was quickly displaced (this time by his teammate Franco Colapinto).
Then it was Hadjar who set a 1:39.368 to go to the top, knocking Aron down yet another spot in the running. As Martins took second place and Bearman improved to fourth, Aron moved down further and further until he was outside of the top ten and the chance to gain via the reverse grid disappeared.
Drivers struggled to improve in the final moments of qualifying, leaving Hadjar to take pole position for Sunday’s Feature Race ahead of Martins and Hauger. Colapinto and Bearman take the final top five spots on the grid.
Bortoleto, Jak Crawford, Maini, Maloney, and Kimi Antonelli complete the top ten, the latter taking pole position for tomorrow’ Sprint Race.
Aron ended the session in 12th, where he’ll start both races, giving Hadjar the chance to make up the 11 point gap between them in the title fight.
Full results can be found here.
Feature Image Credit: James Sutton – Getty Images