Championship contender Paul Aron has clinched Pole position for the Feature race during the F2 Qualifying session for the 2024 Belgian GP. His rival Isack Hadjar, who currently sits P1 in the Championship, finished the session in P3 – a position he did not appear to be happy with. Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto will start beside Aron on the front row a tenth behind.
It was an early finish for Victor Martins, whose streak of good sessions has come to an end with another retirement. Oliver Bearman, who will make the move to F1 next year, also had a tough session. The Brit finished in P15, meaning he will start both races from the bottom end of the grid.
Reverse grid pole for the Sprint goes to Zak O’Sullivan – but with a couple of drivers in the top ten facing potential penalties, it’s all to play for in the last race weekend before summer break.
As it Happened
Joshua Dürksen was first out on track for the F2 Qualifying session at the 2024 Belgian GP, followed by his AIX teammate Taylor Barnard. However, no flying laps would be completed before the session was red flagged. The clock stopped with 24 minutes to go after an off from Victor Martins left gravel over the track and the ART stranded. The drivers returned to the pits.
The green flag was waved once again a few minutes later and the session was back underway. Drivers were forced to begin the process of setting up the tyres once again before they could complete laps in an already complicated session. A flying lap was finally posted by Dürksen with over ten minutes of the session gone with a 1:59.072. He wouldn’t stay there for long as the rest of the grid followed behind.
Calm Before the Storm
Campos’ Isack Hadjar was the man to beat with a 1:57.803, with his Championship competitor Paul Aron and Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto under a tenth of a second behind. While most drivers entered the pits, the Hitech of Aron and the PREMA of Oliver Bearman stayed out for another lap. However, both decided to abort the lap and enter the pits, leaving Championship leader Hadjar at the top of the times.
As the clock hit ten minutes to go, the majority of the field, who had entered the pits, were back out for the final few laps of the session. Dennis Hauger led the pack, keen to get another lap on the board. Two minutes later, the entire grid apart from Martins were on an outlap or a flying lap.
Final Flying Laps
The first man across the line to start a flying lap was Hauger, who would go to P1. However, with everyone on track improving on their times, he would not remain there for long. Aron was up to P1 with a 1:56.959, followed by Bortoleto a tenth back and Hadjar in P3. In the end, Aron secured that Feature race pole, followed by Bortoleto and a frustrated Hadjar in P3.
In a last ditch attempt to stay within the top ten, some of the grid including O’Sullivan attempted one more lap. The ART driver was able to get up and into that top ten, securing the Sprint pole. Hauger will start on P2 for the Sprint and Richard Verschoor in P3.
A couple of incidents were also noted to be discussed by the stewards after the race; Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Zane Maloney have been referred for an impeding incident, as has Hadjar and Ritomo Miyata.
Photo Credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd
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