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Patience and precision categorised Formula 2’s Qualifying session at the Circuit de-Barcelona-Catalunya.
The current championship leader Paul Aron took pole position in Spain, just 0.002s ahead of Jak Crawford. Franco Colapinto stole the last spot in the top three for Sunday’s Feature Race.
How it happened
With track temperatures so high late in the afternoon, drivers took more time coming out of the pits for their first push laps while waiting for the track to cool down marginally.
Still, that didn’t stop drivers like Aron going out right away, the Estonian driver setting a benchmark time of 1.25.385 six minutes into the session. He was quickly followed by Dennis Hauger and Colapinto, who grabbed the second and third spots on the timing screen.
Just a minute later, the yellow flag came out as Taylor Barnard went into the gravel at Turn 9 and hit the barrier. The yellow flag quickly became red, and everyone who had already come out was called back into the pits.
Once the track was cleaned up, qualifying restarted. Some drivers hurried out of the pits, although not all of them successfully made it out as Amaury Cordeel stalled several times with an issue.
Half the drivers opted to remain in the pits for a little longer, continuing to wait for optimal track conditions. But with 20 minutes left in the session, almost all 22 drivers made their way onto the track.
As the drivers who hadn’t set a flying lap yet hurried to do so, Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar took provisional pole with a 1.25.205. PREMA Racing saw mixed results, Oliver Bearman only managing 11th fastest as Kimi Antonelli jumped up to second place. With over half of the time gone, Hadjar, Antonelli, Aron, Zane Maloney, and Dennis Hauger made up the top five.
After a break that saw all the drivers back in the pits to recoup, it was time for the final push. All 21 drivers (excluding Barnard) were back on track with seven minutes to go in qualifying.
Aron and Ritomo Miyata traded purple sectors, the pair taking first and second place respectively. From there, a flurry of improvements saw Maloney and then Pepe Marti take third place.
Colapinto then jumped them both to go second fastest, Gabriel Bortoleto slotting right behind him in third. PREMA’s drivers continued their respective forms, Antonelli improving into the top five while Bearman only managed 15th.
Then it was Crawford who made an improvement, the American driver taking second, just 0.002s off Aron’s pole time. Although there was time for some drivers to make a final fast lap, no one opted to.
That result puts Aron on pole for the Feature Race ahead of Crawford and Colapinto, with Bortoleto and Antonelli rounding out the top five. Miyata finished in sixth, followed by Joshua Durksen, Juan Manuel Correa, and Victor Martins. Kush Maini qualified tenth, and will start on pole for tomorrow’s Sprint Race.
Notably qualifying outside the top ten were the drivers who sit second, third, and fourth in the championship, Isack Hadjar, Zane Maloney, and Dennis Hauger. They’ll have lots of ground to make up throughout the weekend if they want to stay in championship contention.
Feature Image Credit: James Sutton – Getty Images