Hitech’s Paul Aron managed to clinch a very tight Formula 2 pole position in Barcelona. Jack Crawford and Franco Colapinto completed a top three only separated by 0.006.
Taylor Barnard caused the first red flag of the Qualifying session after a snap into Turn 9 that caused him to go into the walls. Less than half of the grid managed to put a lap in the bank before everyone was obliged to go into the pits.
Championship leader Paul Aron was one of those drivers who managed to set a time, going provisionally fastest with a time of 1:25.385, followed by Dennis Hauger and Franco Colapinto to complete the first top three of the session.
When the green lights went out again, some drivers decided to go into the pits again including pace-setter Aron for a tyre change, potentially thinking that the first set wouldn’t work properly after completing a warm-up cycle.
Campos driver Issak Hadjar painted all three sectors purple to go into the provisional pole, briefly followed by highly anticipated rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli in second, both ahead of Aron.
Hadjar’s teammate and local hero Pepe Marti complained on the radio about oversteering in his car following a discrete time who put him into 19th.
Rodin’s Zane Maloney jumped into fourth, right behind championship rival Aron with a time of 1:25.385 by the end of the first proper run of the session
Ollie Bearman also struggled compared to his teammate, as he was only 18th by the end of the first run.
Everyone returned to the pit lane preparing for the next and definitive set of laps.
With seven and a half minutes to go, everyone headed out to the track for the decisive last run of the qualifying session.
All the drivers were setting purple and personal best sectors, with Aron massively improving his own time to defend his provisional first position.
At the end of the run, Crawford managed to go up into second, just 0.002 away from Aron’s time. Colapinto went third fastest, only 0.006 from the pole position.
Nobody was able to improve further, meaning Paul Aron was in pole position once again proving why he is leading the Formula 2 Championship.
Crawford and Colapinto rounded up the top three with McLaren’s junior Gabriel Bortoleto in fourth and Mercedes prospect Antonelli in fifth.
Miyata, Durksen, Correa, Martins, and Maini completed a top 10 full of relevant names missing, including Bearman, Zane Maloney, and both Campos drivers, who are racing on home soil this weekend.
Discussion about this post