Joel Eriksson denied Lando Norris pole position for the Qualifying race at the Macau Grand Prix by the narrowest of margins as the top four from the 2017 FIA European Formula 3 Championship locked out the top four places on the grid.
Despite another four red flags, Eriksson took pole for his Motopark with VEB squad with a best lap of 2:10.720s, just 0.024 seconds ahead of Norris, who had taken provisional pole position during Thursday’s first session.
The early pace was set by Red Bull Junior Daniel Ticktum but when drivers switched to new tyres, the Briton slipped to sixth, as SJM Theodore Racing by Prema drivers Callum Ilott and Maximilian Günther locked out the second row of the grid, with Ferdinand Habsburg also jumping up the order into fifth for Carlin.
A lap from Norris put the McLaren Formula 1 Team junior to the top of the leaderboard with seventeen minutes remaining, but it was not long before Eriksson responded, and he will lead the field away on Saturday.
Mick Schumacher put in a strong run to qualify seventh for SJM Theodore Racing by Prema ahead of the leading Japanese Formula 3 runner in Yuhi Sekiguchi of B-MAX Racing, while Sergio Sette Câmara of Motopark and Guan Yu Zhou of SJM Theodore Racing by Prema completed the top ten.
The first red flag was caused early on when Jehan Daruvala crashed for the second consecutive day, this time in the mountain section of the legendary circuit, while Sette Câmara also found the barriers for a second time in as many days at Fisherman’s Bend.
Zhou crashed out with five minutes remaining to cause the third red flag, whilst the session ended with the red flags flying once more as Sekiguchi crashed at the final turn.
Macau Grand Prix Qualifying 2 Result
[table id=2704 /]
