Ayumu Iwasa puts his DAMS on pole position for the Feature Race in FIA Formula 2’s first visit to Australia as Victor Martins brings out the red flag at the end of the session.
Jack Doohan led the drivers out for Friday’s Qualifying session in Albert Park. The conditions were less than optimal, seeing all drivers opt for the wet weather tyres.
The session was red flagged with just over 4 minutes gone. Ollie Bearman found the wall in Sector 2, he managed to keep the engine running but returned to the pits with a damaged front wing. His session was called short quickly after by his engineers with a damaged right-rear suspension.
Bearman wasn’t the only driver to spin through the fast section, Arthur Leclerc was able to carry on without damage but Jak Crawford, who also spun, lost his front wing through the chicane.
Before the red flag, no driver set a time so the order was still to be decided. There was a short delay in bringing out the green flag due to the heaviness of the rain.
Just like the start of the session, Doohan was the first driver to leave the pit lane with 25 minutes remaining. He set the first time of the session with a 1:52.238.
Prema fixed Bearman’s car in time with help from the extended red flag, so he could join the rest of the grid on track. Himself and Ralph Boschung went wide at Turn 13 and onto the grass, neither picked up any damage.
Iwasa was the next driver to go fastest by a large margin, he put in a time which was 9 tenths of a second quicker than Dennis Hauger with a 1:46.376.
He was soon replaced by Isack Hadjar and Victor Martins at the top. Martins went to the top of the timing screens with a 1:45.736 as drivers came into the pits for new tyres before their third and final runs.
Zane Maloney was the first driver to significantly improve on his final run. He put his Rodin Carlin in third, just 3 tenths of a second behind provisional pole-sitter, Martins.
Iwasa went fastest moments before the red flag was brought out by Martins who found the wall in Sector 1. He hit the wall heavily but thankfully got out of the car soon after.
The session would not be restarted meaning Iwasa will start Sunday’s Feature Race from pole position. He will line up alongside Théo Pourchaire, Martins will start in third, assuming his ART mechanics can recover his car after a big impact.
Dennis Hauger will start tomorrow’s Sprint Race from reverse-grid pole. The race will start at 14:20(VIC) Melbourne local time.
Image: Formula Motorsport Limited
