Richard Verschoor secures Pole for the second time in his F2 career with a 1:54.857. Kimi Antonelli follows closely behind with a 1:54.874 and Victor Martins lines up third with a 1:55.102.
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The Azerbaijan Grand Prix marks the final qualifying session of the 2024 Formula 2 season to take place on a street circuit.
Enzo Fittipaldi led the field at the end of the morning’s practice session with a time of 1:58.244. He was followed by Kush Maini with a time of 1:58.6 and Kimi Antonelli with a time of 1:59.009.
Green Light
Just before making his way out of the pit lane, Victor Martins experienced a small break fire, which was quickly resolved.
The drivers were given the green light, with everyone out on the track for their tyre preparation laps.
Championship leader Isack Hadjar was the first to set a flying lap at this challenging street circuit, going to the top of the timings with a 1:57.423.
However, the times began tumbling in, with Richard Verschoor replacing Hadjar with a 1:56.023, closely followed by Victor Martins with a 1:56.241 and Kimi Antonelli with a 1:56.362.
Yellow Flag
The yellow flag was waved for a 30-second period, with Dennis Hauger finding the run-off area yet quickly recovering.
With 19 Minutes To Go…
Luke Browning was able to set an impressive time of 1:56.611 for ART Grand Prix.
This is the rookies’ first F2 qualifying session, along with Gabriele Minì and Christian Mansell, with all three drivers making their F2 debut this weekend.
Verschoor improved again with a 1:55.655, with Martins staying P2 just 0.079s behind the leader.
Christian Mansell made it all three rookies in the top 10 with half of the session to go, setting a time of 1:56.788 for Trident.
In The Pits
With 14 minutes to go, the track fell considerably quieter as many of the drivers made their way back into the pits to review their current performances and change for a fresh set of tyres for their final flying laps.
It was championship leader Hadjar who seemed to be struggling the most, only just breaking into the top 10 with a 1:56.653.
The Final Ten Minutes
The final ten minutes was marked with a second yellow flag, with Niels Koolen finding the run-off area.
Yet after the quick recovery, the drivers made their way out of the pits to start their final out-laps.
Red Flag
Victor Martins was aiming to set his first Pole position of the year, yet his efforts were suddenly halted, with the red flag being waved.
Both of the Campos cars of Isack Hadjar and Josep Pepe Marti were nosed in the barriers in the Turn 1 run-off area.
With both cars locking up in separate incidents and running into the barriers, this only puts Hadjar’s championship lead further at risk on what could be a crucial weekend.
Hadjar is currently P1 in the Driver Standings with 165 points, with Gabriel Bortoleto closely behind with 154.5 points.
Session Resumed
With 4:14 left on the clock, the session was resumed.
The traffic on the track was considerable, with Fittipaldi leading the queue as the drivers eager to make their way to the start-finish line before the clock reached zero.
Personal best sector times were tumbling in S1 for many of the drivers, with Antonelli going quickest of all by almost 0.4s.
Richard Verschoor goes quickest for the second time in his F2 career with a 1:54.857 for Trident. Kimi Antonelli follows closely behind with a 1:54.874 for Prema Racing and Victor Martins lines up third with a 1:55.102 for ART Grand Prix.
Reverse grid pole goes to rookie Christian Mansell for Trident.
Featured Image Credit: Formula Motorsport Limited
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