The Formula 2 championship is back after its long break, and this weekend in Qatar is pivotal for our top 5 drivers. The championship could be won and lost this weekend so qualifying is crucial. Let’s look at how the F2 Qualifying session went under the lights today.
A Perfect Start to the Weekend
All eyes were on our championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli. With just 19 points the margin between him and Jak Crawford, a solid qualifying session was critical. Fornaroli was solid in practice but qualifying is a different environment. Getting pole wouldn’t be easy.
The initial laps came in quickly and Fornaroli was not holding back, already setting purple sectors and shooting to provisional pole. Crawford looked far better than he did in practice today, setting an early time good enough for P2, splitting the two Invica drivers.
The gravel was once again a familiar face in this session, as many drivers including Kush Maini pushed the limits and ran across the gravel around the circuit.
All teams were pushing
Both MP drivers set some flying laps in their early runs. They were able to match the pace of the top runners, bringing them back into contention for a decent qualifying. Ollie Goethe set a purple 1st sector half way through qualifying, putting himself in P2 for the time being.
In what would have been a mega lap for him, Sebastian Montoya had a close call, losing control of his car momentarily. He was able to regain control of his car and complete the lap but lost significant time in the incident.
15 minutes left in the session and fuel conservation became the priority, as all the drivers entered the pit lane. The teams would then need to ensure they had enough fuel left for their final runs and also enough time to get a good go at pole.
It’s Pole for Oliver Goethe
With only 10 minutes remaining, the race for pole got serious. Fornaroli continued to improve, but that didn’t stop the rest of the grid from battling. Luke Browning was one of the first to set off on a flying lap, but was significantly off the pace set by the championship leader. A small mistake in the third sector ruined his lap and shot him to P4. P4 was short lived and Crawford stole that position from him.
Dino Beganovic is not in the run for the championship but still gave Fornaroli a run for his money, shooting to the top after his brilliant lap. As the session drew to an end, Oliver Goethe shot to pole, edging out Fornaroli, the first pole for MP this season.
In the critical moment for the championship, Jak Crawford was not able to improve his time. His tyres were gone and so he find himself starting P15 in the Sprint and Feature race. Victor Martins produced a great lap good enough for P3 ahead of Roman Stanek. Alex Dunne P5, Montoya P6 and the rookie Nikola Tsolov P7. Verschoor will start Sprint Pole, in the reverse grid order.
Luke Browning also had a disaster qualifying, and finds himself starting both races P18. This is far from ideal in the championship battle and he will need a miracle to keep himself in contention.
Post Qualifying Breaking News
Oliver Goethe has been handed a 3-place penalty for impeding during the session. This means that the German loses his pole position and will start Sundays feature race from 4th instead.
Critically, this promotes Leonardo Fornaroli to Pole for the feature race!