Liam Lawson was fastest in Friday’s FIA Formula 2 qualifying ahead of Juri Vips to secure Hitech GP a front-row lockout for Sunday’s feature race in Baku.
Despite lapping 0.7 seconds quicker than anybody else in free practice, Vips was pipped to feature race pole by team-mate and fellow Red Bull junior Lawson, while Prema’s Robert Shwartzman took reversed-grid pole for Saturday’s first sprint race after setting the 10th fastest time.
Monaco feature race winner Theo Pourchaire set the early qualifying pace for ART with a time of 1m55.455s. But MP Motorsport’s session got off to a bad start, its drivers Lirim Zendelli and Richard Verschoor simultaneously having a trip down the escape road at turn 16 before rejoining.
Carlin’s Dan Ticktum bettered Pourchaire’s effort by 0.1s, but it was DAMS driver Marcus Armstrong who led the way at the halfway mark after going quicker still with a time of 1.55.057s.
Lawson leapt to the top after returning to the track on fresh tyres, improving on Armstrong’s effort by over 0.6s, with Vips lapping just 0.029s slower to move into second.
Vips kept hold of his position despite being unable to improve on his final lap, while Lawson found a further 0.1s to end the session on top with a time of 1m54.217s. Oscar Piastri was third for Prema, just under 0.3s slower than the pole time, with Pourchaire fourth and Carlin’s Dan Ticktum fifth.
Armstrong ended up in sixth, despite improving on his earlier session-topping time on his second run, with Ralph Boschung seventh for Campos.
Championship leader Guanyu Zhou was eighth for Virtuosi ahead of Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala, who will start alongside Shwartzman in sprint race one.
Roy Nissany did not take part in qualifying after a heavy crash in free practice, his DAMS team unable to repair his car in time.
Qualifying result
| 1 | Liam Lawson | Hitech GP | 1m54.217s |
| 2 | Juri Vips | Hitech GP | +0.138s |
| 3 | Oscar Piastri | Prema | +0.291s |
| 4 | Theo Pourchaire | ART | +0.422s |
| 5 | Dan Ticktum | Carlin | +0.613s |
| 6 | Marcus Armstrong | DAMS | +0.697s |
| 7 | Ralph Boschung | Campos | +0.745s |
| 8 | Guanyu Zhou | Virtuosi | +0.895s |
| 9 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | +0.905s |
| 10 | Robert Shwartzman | Prema | +0.944s |
| 11 | Felipe Drugovich | Virtuosi | +0.956s |
| 12 | Christian Lundgaard | ART | +1.028s |
| 13 | David Beckmann | Charouz | +1.119s |
| 14 | Jack Aitken | HWA | +1.434s |
| 15 | Bent Viscaal | Trident | +1.441s |
| 16 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport | +1.771s |
| 17 | Matteo Nannini | Campos | +2.246s |
| 18 | Lirim Zendeli | MP Motorsport | +2.362s |
| 19 | Marino Sato | Trident | +3.322s |
| 20 | Guilherme Samaia | Charouz | +3.576s |
| 21 | Alessio Deledda | HWA | +4.047s |
| 22 | Roy Nissany | DAMS |
Featured image credit: @formula2 official twitter
