Victor Martins decimated F2 grid in Saudi Arabia qualifying from Oliver Bearman and Theo Pourhaire for the feature race.
The F2 qualifying in Saudi Arabia had a red flag stoppage amidst the first run where DAMS’ Arthur Leclerc headed the way with a 1m42.629s lap when things quietened after Van Amersfoort Racing’s Richard Verschoor spinning to a halt at Turn 22.
The Dutchman lost at the exit and spun where his engine stopped in 13th. At the front, ART’s Victor Martins slotted in second behind Leclerc, with Prema’s Oliver Bearman in third from Campos’ Kush Maini and Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan in the Top 5.
After few cars ventured out for a citing lap on the old set post the green flag, those cars waited a bit to return the track when the second runs officially started. It was another flier from ART in their first run where Martins was on top by 0.744s.
He set a 1m41.326s lap over Bearman and Martins’ teammate Theo Pourchaire. The final run was marred by a red flag when Leclerc stopped on track at the exit of Turn 22. The Monegasque hit the wall at Turn 16 which damaged his car before coming to a halt.
This handed Martin a feature F2 race pole by a huge margin like his teammate in Bahrain. Bearman was second from Pourchaire, as Doohan pipped MP Motorsport’s Jehan Daruvala to fourth where the Indian couldn’t get a final lap due to the red flag.
He was one of many who were improving in their final run. DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa was sixth from Prema’s Vesti, Campos’ Maini & Ralph Boschung and Hitech GP’s Jak Crawford, with the American on sprint F2 race pole for Saturday.
#F2 #SaudiArabiaGP RED FLAG ! Leclerc. Session will not be resumed. Qualifying results and the provisional grid for the Feature Race on Sunday. For tomorrow's Sprint Race, the top 10 will be reversed. #MsportXtra @SaudiArabianGP @F2Inside pic.twitter.com/pjtr0NUmIn
— #MsportXtra © (@MsportXtra) March 17, 2023
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