Carlin’s Yuki Tsunoda took FIA Formula 2 (F2) Championship pole at Spa-Francorchamps as Trident’s Lirim Zendelli had it in FIA Formula 3 (F3) Championship.
F2:
It was sunny for F2 qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps with no wet weather disruption but yellow flag and red flag did hurt the run with DAMS’ Juri Vips and Campos Racing’s Guilherme Samaia causing the either due to their respective stoppages.
It was heartbreaking for Vips, who is making his F2 debut alongside Daniel Ticktum. The Brit missed practice session due to an inconclusive COVID-19 result but was back in the car for qualifying after testing negative in his second virus test.
Samaia, meanwhile, had his rear of the car on fire, with Trident’s Marino Sato leading the way when the session stopped from Charouz’s Pedro Piquet and Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala. Once the session re-started, the actual first runs started to set in.
It was Carlin’s Yuki Tsunoda leading with a 1m57.997s, with Prema’s Mick Schumacher and UNI-Virtuosi Racing’s Callum Ilott third. The order changed on their final runs but the Japanese stayed in front to secure his second pole of the 2020 F2 season.
He improved to a 1m57.593s to take the top spot from Hitech GP’s Nikita Mazepin (1m57.721s) and MP Motorsport’s Nobuharu Matsushita (1m57.844s) in the Top 3 as Prema’s Robert Shwartzman was fourth from MP Motorsport’s Felipe Drugovich.
The Top 10 had UNI-Virtuosi Racing’s Guanyu Zhou in sixth with Schumacher dropping to seventh, while Charouz’s Louis Deletraz was eighth, Daruvala ninth and Hitech GP’s Luca Ghiotto 10th as F2 points leader Ilott was only 12th eventually.
Position 11-21: Piquet, Ilott, Marcus Armstrong, Ticktum, Roy Nissany, Sato, Jack Aitken, Christian Lundgaard, Artem Markelov, Giuliano Alesi. DNQ: Samaia, Vips.
#F2 #BelgianGP Qually results and a great day for @mpmotorsport_ while Tsunoda takes pole position. #MsportXtra pic.twitter.com/0Jp7CstlQn
— #MsportXtra (@MsportXtra) August 28, 2020
F3:
The wet qualifying session in F3 at Spa-Francorchamps caught a lot of teams out as the early lap of 2m05.393s from Trident’s Lirim Zendelli earned him his first pole from ART’s Theo Pourchaire (2m05.596s) and SMP Racing’s Aleksandr Smolyar.
The already rain-affected session was also disrupted when F3 new-comer Michel Belov in the Charouz spun onto the barrier. The Russian along with Hitech GP’s Dennis Hauger were the only two to have no time set as Prema’s Logan Sargeant was fourth.
He had F3 title contender Trident’s David Beckmann just behind him with MP Motorsport’s Richard Verschoor sixth, Hitech GP’s Liam Lawson seventh, Prema’s Oscar Piastri eighth & Frederick Vesti ninth and Campos’ Alexander Peroni rounding the Top 10.
https://twitter.com/FIAFormula3/status/1299343000385052672?s=20