Heading into qualifying for F2’s Bahrain round, Oliver Goethe topped practice ahead of teammate Richard Verschoor. Pepe Martí and Victor Martins followed, with Gabriele Minì rounding out the top 5.
As it happened: First runs
The 30-minute qualifying session began slow. Most drivers looked to wait until the second half of the session, with lower air temperatures playing into their favour to set their fastest laps.
Amongst those who did go out first though, it was the ART duo of Ritomo Miyata and Victor Martins. The latter was competing in his first weekend after being signed into the Williams Driver Academy.
They were followed by the PREMA of Sebastián Montoya, who sported a special livery in honour of his 20th birthday. Minì too followed his teammate onto the track for a first lap.
The two Hitech TGR cars of Luke Browning and Dino Beganovic too made their way onto the track. They were followed by the VAR cars of John Bennett and Rafael Villagómez. Leonardo Fornaroli and Roman Staněk made their way out too, for Invicta Racing.
The others who set out for a first lap were the two AIX cars of championship leader Joshua Dürksen and Cian Shields.
Fornaroli led after the first laps. The Italian set a lap of 1:44.642, almost half a second clear of Martins and Alex Dunne after the first laps. Staněk and Minì rounded out the top five.
However, Martí managed to put in a lap just over two tenths off Fornaroli, moving up to second. Verschoor and Browning followed suit, occupying third and fourth, respectively.
The rest of the grid eventually made their way out after the 15-minute mark, setting lap times on the board.
Yet, reigning F3 champion Fornaroli’s lap remained the status quo, and heading into the final runs, it remained to be seen if anyone could challenge the Italian’s lap time.
Final qualifying laps at Bahrain: Would anyone challenge Fornaroli for F2 pole?
With just under eight minutes to go, the full grid of 22 drivers made their way out onto the track for one final lap in anger.
However, Kush Maini failed to get underway from the pit lane. A difficulty in starting his DAMS meant his session was complete. The Indian driver wouldn’t set a lap time, marooned down in 20th on the road.
Victor Martins was the first to challenge Fornaroli’s lap time. The newly-instated Williams junior set a personal best first sector, just four milliseconds up on Fornaroli’s time. The Frenchman then set a purple in the middle sector, going three-tenths up. He then stopped the clocks four tenths ahead, the first to finish his lap.
However, Browning looked to challenge Martins’ time. The Briton clocked the fastest first sector. Despite remaining close, he wound up only 0.129s down on his fellow Williams junior. Alex Dunne’s lap was good enough to get him into the top four, an excellent qualifying for the Rodin Motorsport racer.
Although, the trio drivers would have to watch behind. Fornaroli, who was also on his final lap, fought back. The Invicta racer emulated Gabriel Bortoleto from 2024, setting a 1:44.008 to take his maiden pole position around the Sakhir International Circuit.
Final qualifying order:
1. Leonardo Fornaroli (Invicta Racing)
2. Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix)
3. Luke Browning (Hitech TGR)
4. Alex Dunne (Rodin Motorsport)
5. Roman Staněk (Invicta Racing)
6. Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport)
7. Sami Meguetounif (Trident)
8. Rafael Villagomez (Van Amersfoort Racing)
9. Dino Beganovic (Hitech TGR)
10. Joshua Dürksen (AIX Racing)
11. Pepe Martí (Campos Racing)
12. Gabriele Minì (PREMA Racing)
13. John Bennett (Van Amersfoort Racing)
14. Jack Crawford (DAMS Lucas Oil)
15. Oliver Goethe (MP Motorsport)
16. Arvid Lindblad (Campos Racing)
17. Max Esterson (Trident)
18. Sebastián Montoya (PREMA Racing)
19. Ritomo Miyata (ART Grand Prix)
20. Kush Maini (DAMS Lucas Oil)
21. Amaury Cordeel (Rodin Motorsport)
22. Cian Shields (AIX Racing)
