Victor Martins took feature F2 race pole amid red flag stoppages in Silverstone, as Leonardo Fornaroli took pole in F3.

F2:

Victor Martins will start from P1 for the second time in the space of a week. The Frenchman was the man to beat once again in Qualifying, setting a 1:39.832 to secure the top spot around Silverstone. Kush Maini made a late improvement to jump up to P2 for Campos Racing late on, while Ayumu Iwasa moved himself into third with his final effort.

Practice pacesetter Iwasa was quick to set the early benchmark with a 1:41.100, matched exactly by his teammate Arthur Leclerc to the thousandth. This was swiftly beaten in quick succession as the Japanese driver dropped to the tail end of the top 10, before Martins put himself top of the timing sheets. His 1:40.576 was over a tenth clear of second placed Richard Verschoor.

The first of two Red Flags came at the 19-minute mark after Amaury Cordeel spun off into the barriers at Copse. After the #15 Invicta Virtuosi Racing car had been recovered, a short green flag spell was broken up by the second Red Flag but running resumed with eight minutes of the session remaining.

The curtailed session meant there were quickfire improvements throughout the field. Iwasa returned to the top spot for a matter of seconds before Oliver Bearman shot up to P1, until he himself was quickly displaced by Martins. Maini hadn’t been near pole until going second for Campos in the final minutes, improving to within 0.113s of the leader.

There was time for one final effort but only Iwasa could improve after Championship leader Frederik Vesti came to a halt in the first sector, bringing out the yellow flags. The Japanese driver moved himself into the top three but couldn’t displace Martins from P1. Jack Doohan finished up fourth for Invicta Virtuosi Racing ahead of Bearman in P5.

Enzo Fittipaldi headed up the Rodin Carlin charge in sixth ahead of teammate Zane Maloney in P7 after both made late improvements to break into the top 10. Theo Pourchaire was eighth ahead of Isack Hadjar and title rival Vesti. The Dane will get Saturday’s Sprint Race underway from reverse grid pole when the lights go out at 13:15 local time.

UPDATE: Following the conclusion of Formula 2 Qualifying at Silverstone, two drivers have been assigned grid penalties. Zane Maloney has received two separate three-place grid penalties. After the Qualifying session, it was found that Maloney has impeded the ART Grand Prix car of Théo Pourchaire at Turn 11. Stewards determined that Maloney had unnecessarily impeded the French driver during a push lap, earning a three-place grid drop as a result.

Separately, Maloney was also found to have impeded the #14 Invicta Virtuosi Racing car of Jack Doohan during the session, this time at Turn 9. Once again, Stewards determined that Maloney had impeded the Australian driver during a push lap, earning another three-place grid penalty. The two penalties drop Maloney from 4th to 10th on the grid for Saturday’s race.

MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger has also been given a grid penalty following Qualifying. During the session, double waved yellow flags were displayed at Turn 4. Hauger was found to have not aborted his push lap, contravening the FIA Sporting Code. The Stewards assigned Hauger a five-place grid penalty for the Sprint Race as a result. The Norwegian Qualified 14th but will now start the Sprint Race from 19th.

F3:

Leonardo Fornaroli headed up a Trident 1-2 around Silverstone, taking his maiden Formula 3 pole position with a 1:45.520. Teammate Oliver Goethe followed in second after making a late improvement, while Josep María Martí led the Campos Racing effort in third. The Spaniard was narrowly ahead of teammate Christian Mansell, who secured his best F3 Qualifying result in fourth. Championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto rounded out the top five on a good day for the Trident team.

Gabriele Minì set the early pace with a 1:46.619 which was swiftly beaten by teammate Luke Browning to the tune of three-tenths. The Tridents of Gabriel Bortoleto and Oliver Goethe crossed the line to split the two Hitech Pulse-Eight drivers, with the top three covered by just 0.120s. With 10 minutes gone, Paul Aron became the driver to beat, setting a 1:46.191 in the #1 PREMA Racing car.

Just beyond halfway through the session, the lead changed hands once again as Leonardo Fornaroli put his Trident onto provisional pole with a 1:45.717 to head the field by over four-tenths. MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto closed the gap down to 0.375s to slot into P2. The track filled up once more after a swap to fresh tyres with less than 10 minutes remaining of Qualifying.

Minì, Browning and Aron each improved on their next efforts but only the Estonian got to within a quarter of a second of Fornaroli’s provisional pole time. The Italian was able to find even more margin and lowered his personal best to a 1:45.520. Teammate Goethe slotted into second with his last lap, 0.126s back in P2.

Martí and Mansell popped up to third and fourth respectively for Campos Racing on their last laps, with Bortoleto ensuring all three Tridents were in the top five with fifth. Aron ended up sixth for PREMA ahead of Minì and Browning for Hitech. Colapinto slotted into ninth ahead of British duo Taylor Barnard and Jonny Edgar in 11th. Sebastián Montoya will line up on reverse grid pole for Hitech Pulse-Eight in the Sprint Race on Saturday, set to get underway at 09:20 local time.

 

 

[Note: The story is as per press release]

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