UNI-Virtuosi driver Callum Ilott secured pole position for the FIA Formula 2 feature race as he pipped Christian Lundgaard with a late lap.
The Brit fought back well to fifth in last week’s feature race after a technical issue forced him to start from the pit lane but he’ll be praying for no such issues come Saturday.
Dane Lundgaard was the pace-setter for much of the session but Ilott improved on his final run, He was unable to do so and had to settle for second.
It was an ultra-competitive qualifying that saw British duo Jack Aitken and Dan Ticktum lock out the second row, but they were just fractions away from Lundgaard and the front row.
It was close all the way down the field in fact; half a second covered the top twelve with many drivers’ last laps scuppered by a spin from Sean Gelael that brought out yellow flags as the Indonesian stalled his DAMS.
Hitech GP again showed their improvements since the season’s opening races as Luca Ghiotto and Nikita Mazepin qualified fifth and seventh respectively, with Ilott’s teammate Guanyu Zhou in between in sixth.
Mick Schumacher set the pace in practice but he was one of the many baulked by Gelael’s spin and he had to settle for eighth ahead of Louis Delétraz and Yuki Tsunoda who also looked quick during practice.
Championship leader Robert Shwartzman failed to score points last weekend and struggled again in qualifying as he could only manage eleventh. But he did take feature race victory from the same starting position in Hungary.
Pos. | Name | Team | Lap Time |
1 | Callum Ilott | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:39:062 |
2 | Christian Lundgaad | ART | 1:39:177 |
3 | Jack Aitken | Campos | 1:39:278 |
4 | Dan Ticktum | DAMS | 1:39:326 |
5 | Luca Ghiotto | Hitech GP | 1:39:362 |
6 | Guanyu Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:39:394 |
7 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech GP | 1:39:410 |
8 | Mick Schumacher | PREMA | 1:39:448 |
9 | Louis Delétraz | Charouz | 1:39:474 |
10 | Yuki Tsunoda | Carlin | 1:39:494 |
11 | Robert Shwartzman | PREMA | 1:39:525 |
12 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 1:39:526 |
13 | Pedro Piquet | Charouz | 1:39:621 |
14 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:39:679 |
15 | Sean Gelael | DAMS | 1:39:783 |
16 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:39:790 |
17 | Nobuharu Matsushita | MP Motorsport | 1:39:961 |
18 | Artem Markelov | HWA Racelab | 1:40:094 |
19 | Marcus Armstrong | ART | 1:40:299 |
20 | Guiliano Alesi | HWA Racelab | 1:40:485 |
21 | Roy Nissany | Trident | 1:40:615 |
22 | Guilherme Samaia | Campos | 1:41:061 |