Victor Martins was able to outduel Gabriel Bortoleto to take Pole Position in a dramatic Yas Marina Qualifying. The ART Grand Prix driver’s 1:35.745 was enough to give him top spot for Sunday’s Feature Race.
Neither driver could improve on their final attempt, with the Championship leader ending up just 0.035s off pole, while his title rivals Paul Aron and Isack Hadjar followed him in third and fourth respectively.
It was a fast-paced start to Qualifying with Martins setting the benchmark time early on with a 1:36.245, putting him two-tenths clear of Bortoletto early on.
However, the drivers were able to improve on their second push laps on the Supersoft tyre, as the track ramped up.
Early pace-setter Martins then bettered his previous lap to move to a 1:36.191 only for Bortoleto to eclipse his leading time moments later by 0.141s, with his Invicta Racing teammate Kush Maini now third.
In the Championship fight, Hadjar went from P14 on his first run to fifth on his second attempt, putting him just ahead of Aron in P6.
With just over 11 minutes to go Martins put himself back on top of the leaderboard after the first set of laps with a 1:35.745.
A relieved Bortoleto went to P2, 0.035s off the top time just seconds before a Red Flag came out with Rafael Villagómez having stopped on track.
Once the action resumed, it was a question of if the drivers could find more time on their second push laps on the Supersoft rubber.
Neither Martins nor Bortoleto could, but Aron was able to as he made a late move up to third, while Hadjar stayed in fourth.
Dino Beganovic ended up fifth for DAMS Lucas Oil ahead of Maini with Josep María Martí in seventh for Campos.
Rodin Motorsport’s Ritomo Miyata wound up in P8 with AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen in ninth, while Amaury Cordeel’s late effort put him up to P10 and giving him reverse grid pole for the Sprint Race.
The drivers will go and debrief with their teams before returning to the track for the Sprint Race tomorrow at 16:15 local time.
Formula 2 Media | Photos: Formula 2
