Kush Maini scored a maiden Formula 2 pole for the rebranded Invicta Racing team in the opening qualifying of the season at Sakhir.
The Alpine academy driver posted a late effort of 1m41.696 seconds to top the 30-minute session for the team previously known as Virtuosi, while his team-mate and reigning FIA Formula 3 champion Gabriel Bortoleto qualfied second on his debut ahead of Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar.
Dennis Hauger topped the timesheet for MP Motorsport in the early stages with a 1m42.578s lap which was 2.5 seconds quicker than Hadjar’s pace-setting effort in Thursday’s free practice. Maini then edged Hauger by 0.045s, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi close behind the pair in third.
Rodin Motorsport’s Zane Maloney improved approaching the halfway stage to climb ahead of F3 graduates Zak O’Sullivan and Bortoleto into fourth.
While most of the field headed for the pitlane to change tyres, Hadjar leapt to the top with a 1m42.418s, and his Campos Racing team-mate Pepe Marti lapped 0.021s slower to move into second.
With four minutes left on the clock Fittipaldi went quickest with a 1m42.070, but the Brazilian was almost immediately displaced by Maloney who posted a 1m41.982s. Hauger and reigning Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata also moved ahead of Fittipaldi into second and third, and O’Sullivan also improved into fourth.
Maini then posted his pole-winning lap, with Bortoleto and Hadjar jumping up to second and third. That relegated Maloney to fourth by the end of the session, with Hauger fifth and Miyata sixth on his debut for Rodin.
ART Grand Prix’s O’Sullivan ended his first F2 qualifying in seventh, with his team-mate Victor Martins ninth behind Fittipaldi.
PHM Racing’s Taylor Barnard improved to tenth on his final lap, provisionally securing him reversed-grid pole for his first F2 start in Friday’s sprint race. Having sat in the top six in the latter stages, DAMS’s Jak Crawford ended up 11th ahead of Marti.
Prema endured a difficult session, with Mercedes-AMG junior and debutant Andrea Kimi Antonelli 18th, one place ahead of team-mate Ollie Bearman.
Qualifying result
| Position | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Kush Maini | Invicta Racing | 1m41.696s |
| 2 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta Racing | +0.219s |
| 3 | Isack Hadjar | Campos Racing | +0.242s |
| 4 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Motorsport | +0.286s |
| 5 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | +0.294s |
| 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin Motorsport | +0.307s |
| 7 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART Grand Prix | +0.318s |
| 8 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.374s |
| 9 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | +0.462s |
| 10 | Taylor Barnard | PHM Racing | +0.511s |
| 11 | Jak Crawford | DAMS | +0.591s |
| 12 | Pepe Marti | Campos Racing | +0.637s |
| 13 | Paul Aron | Hitech GP | +0.644s |
| 14 | Juan Manuel Correa | DAMS | +0.673s |
| 15 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.696s |
| 16 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport | +0.696s |
| 17 | Richard Verschoor | Trident | +0.948s |
| 18 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema | +0.997s |
| 19 | Ollie Bearman | Prema | +1.014s |
| 20 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech GP | +1.249s |
| 21 | Roman Stanek | Trident | +1.372s |
| 22 | Joshua Duerksen | PHM Racing | +1.457s |
Featured image credit: Formula Motorsport Ltd
