NORRIS GRABS MAIDEN F2 POLE IN THRILLING BAHRAIN QUALIFYING SESSION - RNW | RacingNewsWorldwide.com | Your latest racing news
  1. Home
  2. OPEN
  3. WHEEL
  4. Formula
  5. 2
  6. NORRIS GRABS MAIDEN F2 POLE IN THRILLING BAHRAIN QUALIFYING SESSION

NORRIS GRABS MAIDEN F2 POLE IN THRILLING BAHRAIN QUALIFYING SESSION

NORRIS GRABS MAIDEN F2 POLE IN THRILLING BAHRAIN QUALIFYING SESSION
0

Carlin driver sets best lap to head grid for tomorrow’s Feature Race

Lando Norris took pole position in the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship qualifying session at Sakhir, Bahrain in an enthralling battle for the first berth on the grid, setting a 1:41.761 to go fastest. The McLaren F1 reserve driver will be joined on the front row in tomorrow’s feature race by countryman George Russell of ART Grand Prix, as DAMS’ Alexander Albon will start from third place.

The green flag was eagerly awaited by a queue of cars all lined up to hit the track, with Trident’s Santino Ferrucci first onto the circuit – closely followed by teammate Arjun Maini and RUSSIAN TIME’s Artem Markelov, who quickly disposed of his medium-compound tyres after an exploratory lap to fall in line with everyone else on softs.

Ferrucci set the opening laptime before BWT Arden’s Maximilian Günther dipped below the two-minute mark. The bar quickly began to rise, and Sergio Sette Camara (Carlin) was the first in the right ballpark with a lap in the 1m42s. Russell quickly dispatched the Brazilian to go into the midpoint of the session ahead, standing on top of the pile with half-a-tenth’s advantage.

The field then pulled into the pits for the second round of running, bolting on fresh sets of soft tyres before looking to overhaul Russell’s benchmark. Maini looked threatening, but a moment in the second sector put paid to the Indian driver’s chances of snatching the headline time. Instead, Russell chiselled half a second out of his timesheet-topping lap, setting the latter two sectors purple en route.

Albon got closest to Russell, fractions slower than the British driver’s time, before Norris snatched pole by under a tenth of a second despite going wide at the final sector. Russell and Albon could not find any more time to stop Carlin from claiming their first F2 pole, while Nyck de Vries popped up into fourth late on with the fastest final sector.

Louis Delétraz gave Charouz Racing System a strong debut in the championship with fifth, narrowly clearing Sette Camara. Nirei Fukuzumi (Arden) and Tadasuke Makino (RUSSIAN TIME) will create an all-Japanese fourth row in tomorrow’s race, as Jack Aitken (ART) and Günther completed the top ten.

With the margins slim in the qualifying session, tomorrow’s feature race promises to deliver an exciting season opener. Warm afternoon conditions should provide something of an extra challenge, as each driver seeks to open their 2018 accounts with victory.

POS NO DRIVERS TEAMS LAPS TIME GAP INT. KPH LAP SET ON
1 19 L. Norris Carlin 10 1:41.761 191.460 20:36:27
2 8 G. Russell ART Grand Prix 10 1:41.823 0.062 0.062 191.343 20:29:31
3 5 A. Albon DAMS 10 1:41.850 0.089 0.027 191.293 20:36:20
4 4 N. de Vries PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing 11 1:41.880 0.119 0.030 191.236 20:39:49
5 20 L. Delétraz Charouz Racing System 9 1:42.174 0.413 0.294 190.686 20:37:29
6 18 S. Sette Câmara Carlin 11 1:42.221 0.460 0.047 190.598 20:33:01
7 12 N. Fukuzumi Arden International 10 1:42.246 0.485 0.025 190.552 20:38:17
8 2 T. Makino RUSSIAN TIME 10 1:42.264 0.503 0.018 190.518 20:37:14
9 7 J. Aitken ART Grand Prix 11 1:42.282 0.521 0.018 190.485 20:31:38
10 11 M. Günther Arden International 9 1:42.336 0.575 0.054 190.384 20:30:30
11 21 A. Fuoco Charouz Racing System 11 1:42.342 0.581 0.006 190.373 20:36:24
12 14 L. Ghiotto Campos Racing 9 1:42.414 0.653 0.072 190.239 20:37:20
13 9 R. Merhi MP Motorsport 11 1:42.423 0.662 0.009 190.222 20:41:07
14 16 A. Maini Trident 9 1:42.437 0.676 0.014 190.196 20:29:24
15 6 N. Latifi DAMS 10 1:42.447 0.686 0.010 190.178 20:37:25
16 10 R. Boschung MP Motorsport 10 1:42.460 0.699 0.013 190.154 20:36:37
17 1 A. Markelov RUSSIAN TIME 11 1:42.816 1.055 0.356 189.495 20:38:42
18 17 S. Ferrucci Trident 11 1:42.818 1.057 0.002 189.492 20:36:47
19 3 S. Gelael PERTAMINA PREMA Theodore Racing 8 1:43.016 1.255 0.198 189.127 20:37:48
20 15 R. Nissany Campos Racing 9 1:43.350 1.589 0.334 188.516 20:39:56

Source: F2.com

Comments

comments

David Martin-Janiak Motorsports has always been a passion for me, I've raced in Karting and now I have my own Motorsports news website, so i can help other racers convey their passion to the world!

Epic Crash videos and compilations