Formula 2 qualifying at the Austrian GP weekend ended with Frederik Vesti flying and pole for the main race. Marcus Armstrong was tenth and leads in the sprint race
A week later, Austria presented a very different climate than the one England provided for Formula 2. The qualifying, held on Friday morning (8), took place under firm weather, sunny and 40°C on the track. It was worth, then, just speed, without having to measure the track conditions too much. And who flew to the top of the timesheets and secured the pole-position for the main race of the weekend was Frederik Vesti
In fact, Vesti entered the fight for pole position after the pit-stop made by all the drivers in the middle of the qualifying session. Until that point Jack Doohan had looked like the favorite, but Vesti flew in, took the lead, and could not be beaten again. Jüri Vips came close and took second, while Doohan and Felipe Drugovich went to the maximum to catch the Dane and ended up having their laps cancelled.
This way, Vesti and Vips were the first two, followed by Logan Sargeant, Ayumu Iwasa, Drugovich, Doohan, Amaury Cordeel, Richard Verschoor, Théo Pourchaire, and Marcus Armstrong completed the top-10. As the order of these ten is reversed for the sprint race, Armstrong comes out on top. Enzo Fittipaldi, who had not driven much in free practice after problems, was in 12th place.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows LIVE and IN REAL TIME all the activities of the weekend's Austrian F1 GP. Qualifying is scheduled for later today at 12:00 pm (GMT-3). In F2, the sprint race is scheduled for 12:55 pm on Saturday.
Check out how the standings went:
If in England Formula 2 found wet track for most of the weekend, Austria showed another reality. On a Friday with sunny skies and temperatures above 20°C, the category took to the track to set the starting grid for the two races of the next two days.
At the appointed time, cars were on the track and the green flag was raised for the start of the qualifying session. Ayumu Iwasa led the pack to the track to start looking for fast laps at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg. The temperature reached 40°C on the asphalt at what was the hottest time of the day.
Jüri Vips appeared at the front of the pack after the first round of fast laps. As usually happens, the 'winner' of the opening round did not hold the lead for long. Jack Doohan came in next and went very fast, taking the lead. Logan Sargeant, the Silverstone pole position holder, was fast again, and was right behind.
The morning free practice showed a track still with little rubber and a lot of wind, but the situation was now very different on the Austrian real track. The times were starting to drop, but Sargeant was losing his time for disregarding the track limits.
For a moment Felipe Drugovich appeared in front with a lap of 1min14s825. Good, but Doohan would come back soon after to make 1min14s414 and open a 0s4 lead to the Brazilian championship leader.
About halfway through the practice, the track was empty. The drivers went to the pits to change tires and put on fresh rubber for the final search for times. Doohan and Drugovich were the top two, while Vips, Liam Lawson, Théo Pourchaire, Iwasa, Sargeant, Marcus Armstrong, Jake Hughes, and Dennis Hauger made up the top-10.
The fast laps resumed with less than five minutes to go. Drugovich again took the lead, but it was short-lived, just as before. Seconds later, Doohan overtook him, but a fraction of a second after that, surprise: Frederik Vesti did well and became the leader with 1min14s123. Doohan still had his lap disallowed for not respecting the track limits.
No one seemed able to beat the Dane, but the suspense was left to Pourchaire. The championship runner-up was 12th and outside the position reversal scheme for the sprint race, but two laps ahead of him were cancelled. Thus, he jumped to momentary pole. But another lap dropped him, now dropping Pourchaire to ninth and into second place for the sprint race.
And that was it: Vesti in pole, followed by Vips, Sargeant, Iwasa, and Drugovich, who also had a lap cancelled. Doohan, Amaury Cordeel, Richard Verschoor, Pourchaire, and Marcus Armstrong made up the top-10. The order of the sprint race is exactly the reverse of this. Enzo Fittipaldi was 12th.
F2 2022, Austrian GP, Spielberg, Starting Grid: