Mercedes junior driver Frederik Vesti finally achieved his first pole position in Formula 2 in a qualifying session plagued by track limit violations.
Vesti’s pole position is a first for the ART GP driver in Formula 2 who has been consistently improving throughout the 2022 season. Track limit violations cost him two push laps, however the one that remained was quick enough to secure his pole position.
“The car has been strong all day straight away from Free Practice it was strong. That’s a good confidence boost going into Qualifying, and I think it showed. I had some track limits violations, which meant I actually only had one lap that counted, but it was good enough for pole which is all that counts.”
Frederik Vesti in post-qualifying press conference
After the first half of the session, and before setting out for last-ditch attempts at setting a fast lap, the top five stood as: Doohan, Drugovich, Vips, Lawson and Pourchaire. Drugovich was straight out and on a flyer pushing Doohan into P2. However it was Vesti who then immediately followed by storming his way up to P1, in turn relegating the MP motorsport driver.
As the clock ticked down the final push laps were being taken and times continued to fall, however it was here that track limits started to play a major part. A total of 23 lap times were deleted for exceeding track limits, 13 of which came in the final five minutes of the session.
Whilst all other drivers headed into the pits for the chequered flag, red bull junior Ayumu Iwasa saw an opportunity and set out on a flyer. The lap wasn’t good enough for a front row start however it saw him jump from P6 to P4, ahead of current championship leader Felipe Drugovich.
Two-time pole sitter Juri Vips reached P2 in qualifying. Controversy has followed the Estonian after being dropped as a Red Bull Junior for using a racial slur, however he was still able to achieve his best qualifying since pole in Baku. Vips was reluctant to comment too much on the matter in the post-qualifying press conference however did offer a thanks to Hitech.
“I’m just very humbled and thankful to Hitech for giving me a second chance. Now my main objective is obviously to continue with the season and give them good results. But mainly to just become a better person and show everyone that I learnt from this”
Juri Vips
With all of the lap time deletions, many of the drivers were simply grateful to get a decent time on the board. Logan Sargeant – current third place sitter in the drivers’ championship – got a time good enough for P3 however felt there was more possible coming from a pole position last time out in Silverstone.
“We had a really good car underneath us today, one that was arguably good enough for pole. So, it’s slightly frustrating to miss out on that, but I think with the amount of track limit violations today we have be happy that we put a good lap on the board.”
Logan Sargeant in post-qualifying press conference