Victor Martins claims pole for the fourth time this year as Formula 2 returns to Silverstone for their Friday Qualifying session.
A delayed start to the session meant the drivers exited the pitlane at 15:10 local time. All of the drivers exited their pit box so traffic was expected as they began their flying laps.
The two ART cars took a 1-2 early into the session but were quickly split up by Richard Verschoor, Austria’s Feature Race winner.
DAMS drivers Iwasa and Leclerc crossed the line with the exact same time of 1:41.100 on their first flying lap,
Frederik Vesti’s lap time was deleted for track limits at Turn 9, making him the only driver to not have set a representative time with 20 minutes left in the session.
The session was then brought to a stop when Amuary Cordeel brought out a red flag as he lost control of the Virtuosi car and suffered a large impact into the barriers down at Copse.
This left gravel on the track and severely damaged the tyre barrier meaning time had to be spent on track repairs.
The session resumed for eight minutes before a red flag was waved again to reset the competition when the session was shorted due to it being predicted to overrun into the main event, Formula One.
This left PREMA at risk as Frederik Vesti still had not set a timed lap, leaving him in last. Worries also began at Hitech as Crawford was in 21st, having not been able to set a good timed lap due to the red flags.
Iwasa looked to be setting a promising lap time as he finished the first sector five tenths quicker than Victor Martins in first but went too deep on the brakes, losing time to correct his mistake.
Purple sectors were quickly exchanged between drivers as Leclerc took provisional pole. However, as drivers crossed the line the Monegasque ended up 12th.
Juan Manuel Correa suffered a high speed spin across the track and through the gravel, bringing out a short yellow flag. He managed to regain control and make it back onto the track but this affected surrounding drivers’ lap times.
A yellow flag was then waved in Sector 1 as the clock ran out and drivers began to take the chequered flag. Vesti had come to a halt near the centre of the track, causing drivers to have to slow and swerve around him.
Victor Martins celebrated as he entered the pit lane as the Frenchman will line up on pole for Sunday’s Feature Race.
Kush Maini will share the front row with him as he finishes 0.113 of a second behind Martins, seemingly back on form after having a mixed season.
Formula 2 returns tomorrow for the Sprint race where Israeli driver Roy Nissany will take reverse grid pole with championship leader Vesti beside him.
Image: DAMS
