F2 hit the track on Friday to set up for the last race of the triple header, in case you missed it, here’s a recap of free practice and qualifying.
Free Practice: Lindblad fastest in Barcelona
Barcelona is known for its technical demands, being one of the most well-rounded circuits on the calendar. This meant that every moment on the track was vital for drivers to get up to speed with the difficult conditions.
Alexander Dunne put in an early benchmark with a 1:27.425, followed by Minì and Verschoor. However, Dunne’s already difficult weekend with a penalty carried over from Monaco was about to get worse.
Heading into the pits, Dunne collided into the back of Victor Martins, earning himself a three place grid penalty for both races and more points on his super licence. Bringing him to a total of eight.
The session ran cleanly after Dunne’s incident, and Arvid Lindlad came across the line to take the top spot from the Irishman with a 1:27.147.
There were a few runs off the track and track limits issues among the drivers. But for the final minutes of the session it was kept under green flag conditions.
As the chequered flag waved, Arvid Lindblad held the fastest time around Barcelona from Dunne and Minì.
Qualifying: Lindblad claims record-breaking pole
With the high temperatures around Barcelona, getting the tyres in the perfect window and having a clean track ahead was vital to contending for pole position in Barcelona.
The reigning F3 champion put in an early banker lap with a 1:25.755. Already a mark quicker than the practice times, and they were still dropping.
Pepe Martí had a lap time deleted after a brush with the gravel, and then ran wide again on his next lap. The home hero struggling to find the time in the conditions. Meanwhile, his teammate was topping the timings with a 1:25.492 a healthy two tenths ahead of Fornaroli.
More drivers had lap times deleted with track limits cropping up around Barcelona, Meguetounif and Dürksen were two of the drivers who fell victim to this. Martins, who was still reeling from the lap 1 incident in Monaco lacked the pace in his ART to get to the front of the grid.
Sebastian Montoya crossed the line to take the fastest time of a 1:25.425, but it was short-lived as Lindblad seemed unstoppable and took his first F2 pole with a 1:25.180. Lindblad’s pole position marked the youngest F2 pole sitter ever.
Full qualifying results:
- Arvid Lindblad 1:25.180
- Sebastian Montoya
- Kush Maini
- Roman Stanek
- Alex Dunne
- Richard Verschoor
- Jak Crawford
- Luke Browning
- Joshua Dürksen
- Leonardo Fornaroli
- Pepe Martí
- Dino Beganovic
- Ollie Goethe
- Ritomo Miyata
- Victor Martins
- Max Esterson
- Amaury Cordeel
- Gabriele Minì
- Sami Meguetounif
- Cian Shields
- John Bennett
- Rafael Villagómez
