Hitech’s Paul Aron clinched Pole in the Qualifying session of the F2 2024 Spanish GP weekend, while the DAMS of Jak Crawford and MP’s Franco Colapinto posted times within six hundredths of the 20-year-old. Aron’s Championship rival Isack Hadjar had a session to forget, starting both races this weekend in P11.
As it Happened
Aron was first out for a flying lap in the Qualifying session of the F2 2024 Spanish GP weekend, setting a 1:25.385, followed by Denis Hauger 0.219 behind. Franco Colapinto and Ritomo Miyata sat third and fourth respectively, both also within two tenths of Aron.
The race was quickly red flagged with 23 minutes to go. AIX Racing’s Taylor Barnard suffered from a big snap of oversteer, sending him into the barriers at Turn 9. He will now start at the back in both races this weekend. It’s another disappointment after his maiden F2 victory in the Monaco Sprint.
As the session resumed and the cars returned to the track, Amaury Cordeel failed to pull away properly, beaching himself in the pit lane. With the team’s help, he was able to get going and get back on track for crucial Quali run time.
20 Minutes to Go
With 20 minutes to go, the remaining cars emerged from the pits to put down some lap times. The Campos, PREMAs, Campos, DAMS and ART cars found themselves on an out lap while the rest of the grid re-entered the pits. Before the second wave of laps, the Hitech of Aron sat atop the times, followed by the two MPs. However, the Campos of Isack Hadjar would shoot to the top of the times by a big margin. The Red Bull Academy driver drove clear of Aron by 0.18s. Andrea Kimi Antonelli, a hot topic in the F1 world with a rumoured Mercedes seat next year, moved into P2 – 0.14s behind Hadjar.
At the opposite end of the pack, Pepe Martí found himself in an undriveable car, suffering from severe oversteer. Oliver Bearman who was fresh out of the Formula 1 FP1 session for Haas was also failing to find pace, 1.2 seconds off the lead.
As the clock ticked down to 10 minutes left of the session, the track fell quiet. All 21 drivers remaining were back in the pits in preparation for their final runs.
Final Ten Minutes
The cars returned to the track with eight minutes to go, swarming through the pit lane. Unsurprisingly, a traffic jam ensued, with Isack Hadjar and Enzo Fittipaldi noted by the stewards for an unsafe release. Both PREMA cars hung back, missing the drama and creating a gap between their cars and the field in an attempt to jump up the pack.
Times continued to tumble as the grid embarked on their flying laps, Aron bettering his time to secure a 1:24.766. Franco Colapinto, lucky to get away with a lapse in judgement at the last corner and ending up on the grass, finished a mere 6 thousandths off of pole. Even closer still, Jak Crawford snuck between the pair, two thousandths off of Aron.
After his issue in the pits, there was more bad news for Hadjar by the end of the session. Finishing in P11, he missed the reverse grid pole for the sprint by one place, now starting in P11 in both races. His bid to clinch P1 in the Drivers Championship has taken a hit, with the current leader Aron starting the Feature race on Sunday in P1.
As the chequered flag waved, the track was empty. No driver risked rushing around the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for another lap. Aron returned to the pits in P1, followed by Crawford in P2 and Colapinto in P3. Only six thousands separated the three. Gabriel Bortoleto and Kimi Antonelli rounded out front of the pack for Sunday’s Feature race.
Kush Maini will start from Pole in tomorrow’s Sprint beside ART’s Victor Martins in P2. They will be followed by Juan Manuel Correa, Joshua Dürksen and Ritomo Miyata.
Speaking after the race, Aron told of how attending the top-three press conference after Quali is testament to the work of the Hitech team;
“You know I’ve come here a lot on the Saturdays and Sundays [post races] but I’ve never been here on Friday and never been in the middle [P1], so yeah very very happy to be here.
I must say a huge thank you to the team, to Hitech, because I think the results have shown but no one has seen the work we have done inside the team and even during this two-week break that the drivers had, I know the team was pushing flat out, so yeah I really enjoyed working with them this year. The races and the work with them feel so seamless that I’m really really enjoying my time out here.”
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Photo credit: James Sutton – Formula 1/Formula Motorsport Limited via Getty Images