Callum Ilott was the star of FIA Formula 2 qualifying by mastering the tricky conditions to put his UNI-Virtuosi Racing car on pole positon for Saturday’s Feature Race at the Hungaroring.
The session was wet throughout, which saw two red-flag stoppages. The first came when Guilherme Samaia spun on the exit of Turn 4 before stalling his Campos with only five minutes of the session down.
The second would come 20 minutes after the resumption, as Jehan Daruvala spun his Carlin into the gravel trap at Turn 10. With only four minutes to go on the clock and not enough time for the drivers to warm up their wet-weather tyres, the stewards took the decision to end the session early.
Christian Lundgaard was fastest with 15 minutes to go, six tenths clear of Luca Ghiotto, Jack Aitken, Ilott, Mick Schumacher, Robert Shwartzman, Yuki Tsunoda, Nikita Mazepin, Louis Deletraz and Guanyu Zhou.
The order changed as the track got quicker minute-by-minute, as Ilott improved to go fastest ahead of Ghiotto, with Zhou improving to third and Dan Ticktum jumping up to fourth in the DAMS. Schumacher, Lundgaard, Marcus Armstrong, Jack Aitken, Sean Gelael and Giuliano Alesi.
The top ten remained that way until Daruvala’s trip into the gravel trap brought qualifying to an end, so Ilott got four points to his name and moves to within a point of championship leader Shwartzman heading into Saturday’s Feature Race that begins at 15:45 BST.
| # | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | C. Ilott | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:50.767 | – |
| 2 | L. Ghiotto | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:51.075 | 0.308 |
| 3 | G. Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:51.290 | 0.523 |
| 4 | D. Ticktum | DAMS | 1:51.379 | 0.612 |
| 5 | M. Schumacher | PREMA Racing | 1:51.584 | 0.817 |
| 6 | C. Lundgaard | ART Grand Prix | 1:51.729 | 0.962 |
| 7 | M. Armstrong | ART Grand Prix | 1:51.962 | 1.195 |
| 8 | J. Aitken | Campos Racing | 1:52.496 | 1.729 |
| 9 | S. Gelael | DAMS | 1:52.500 | 1.733 |
| 10 | G. Alesi | BWT HWA RACELAB | 1:52.567 | 1.800 |
