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Victor Martins set the fastest lap in Qualifying to claim pole position for Sunday’s Feature race at Silverstone. Frederik Vesti will start on reverse grid pole for the Sprint race.
Victor Martins claimed back-to back pole position’s in what was a shorter Qualifying session at Silverstone as Frederik Vesti will line up on pole for the Sprint race on Saturday.
What happened last time out in F2?
Last time out in Formula 2 around the Red Bull Ring, we saw a first-time winner with Hitech Pulse-Eight driver Jak Crawford claiming victory in a Safety car filled Sprint race in Austria.
For the Feature race, Van Amersfoort Racing driver Richard Verschoor picked up his first win in 2023 as he moved up to fifth in the Drivers’ Championship with that result.
With the British Grand Prix next up on the calendar, Fredrik Vesti remains top of the Drivers’ standings after eight rounds with 125 points. Theo Pourchaire trails the Danish driver by 20 points as he currently sits in second. Ayumu Iwasa’s podium last weekend moved him to within four points of the Frenchman as he extends his gap to the rest below in third.
In the Constructors’ Championship, PREMA Racing continue to lead the way on 206 points. ART Grand Prix sit behind them in second and Dams round out the top three as things stand.
A chaotic practice session at Silverstone!
The ninth round of the season at Silverstone began with F2’s one and only practice session of the weekend, which was topped by Iwasa with a 1:41.593. Victor Martins finished less than a tenth behind the Japanese driver in second. Jack Doohan of Invicta Virtuosi Racing round out the top three in what was a disrupted session.
During practice, proceedings were halted after the Red Flag was brought out. Juan Manuel Correa lost the back end of his car going through Copse which caused him to spin off into the gravel.
With not long left to go, Denis Hauger had a spin at Brooklands and was unable to get his car going again. Minutes later, a second Red Flag was shown after Clement Novalak beached himself in the gravel. The session would not be resumed following this.
Novalak brings out the second red flag of the session, and that's a wrap – we won't be restarting!
A disrupted session out there this morning ?⚠️?#BritishGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/JSh4BPoHoJ
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 7, 2023
With all the drivers getting a good feel of the track, everything was now set for Qualifying.
First runs
With the green flag flying, 30 minutes of Qualifying got underway as the field made their way out onto the track. All the drivers began their first runs on the soft compound tyre.
Roy Nissany was first to set a proper lap time with a 1:41.480. Iwasa then went fastest with a 1:41.100. a few seconds later, Ollie Bearman would go top with a 1:41.067.
As the drivers started to complete more laps and the track continued to evolve, Martins broke into the one-minute forties to go quickest with a 1:40.576. 10 minutes into the session, the Frenchman led the way with Verschoor in second and Pourchaire in third.
Red Flag
Amaury Cordeel brought out the Red Flag 12 minutes into Qualifying after colliding with the barriers. The Belgium driver got out of his car safety and made his way into the medical car for some further checks.
? RED FLAG ?
Amaury Cordeel whacks the barriers and brings the session to a halt
He reports on the radio that he's OK ?
Live updates ? https://t.co/qLgyAl7LUL#BritishGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/D5l0B98Im0
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 7, 2023
After a bit of a delay due to Cordeel’s crash, the session resumed as the drivers prepared to go out once again. Isack Hadjar led the drivers back out onto the track.
A second Red Flag
The Red Flag came out unexpectedly for a second time as it was confirmed by the Stewards that the session will end at 15:47 pm local time so that it doesn’t impact Free Practice Two’s scheduled time. The second Red Flag was brought out due to the clock being reset as the drivers had around seven minutes less of Qualifying time.
The red flag briefly flies again to allow a reset of the timings, but we're back once more
We lose a couple of minutes from the clock to ensure the rest of the day's track action can take place at the right time! ⏱
Do not miss this fight for pole!#BritishGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/P8iTR7qVPw
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 7, 2023
Second runs
With five minutes remaining, the drivers now had only one real attempt to register an improvement on their times. Arthur Leclerc went fastest with three minutes to go with a 1:40.198 as Correa went off track and into the gravel for a brief moment.
With around two minutes to go, Martins would go fastest once again with a 1:39.832. Kush Maini went onto the front row with his time as Doohan sat in third with less than a minute to go. Iwasa moved up to third with a 1:39.952. Vesti remained stationary on track as the session came to an end.
Martins would claim back-to-back pole position’s as Vesti will line up at the front of the grid for the Sprint race tomorrow.
VICTOR MARTINS IS ON POLE!!
A stonking lap for the @ARTGP man, who takes his second pole in a row in fine style! #BritishGP #F2 @VictorMartinsFR @AlpineF1Team pic.twitter.com/1tDOzsh7gr
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) July 7, 2023
Full results can be found here.
Feature Image Credit: (Photo by Rudy Carezzevoli – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images)