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Richard Verschoor beats Andrea Kimi Antonelli to F2 pole in Baku

Verschoor takes F2 pole position from Antonelli in Baku

13 September at 12:50
  • Matt Gretton
  • Editor-in-Chief

Richard Verschoor has secured pole position for the F2 feature race in Baku, as he snatched the P1 result from F1-bound Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the closing stages of the qualifying session. He beat the Italian by 0.017 seconds. Meanwhile, the Championship leader crashed out of the session and will start from P15. Christian Mansell will start his first F2 race from pole in the sprint race.

F2 leader Isack Hadjar put his Campos Racing car into the wall at the first corner on a flying lap. The brakes did not work properly and the same thing happened to team-mate Pepe Marti seconds later suggesting a set up problem. The two Red Bull juniors will have to play catch-up during the sprint race and feature race. A lengthy red flag period followed.

How F2 qualifying happened in Baku

With just over four minutes left on the clock, the session resumed. A lap at the Baku City Circuit takes just under two minutes and so the track was crowded. Timing was everything Trident had that worked out perfectly. His teammate Oliver Bearman will not compete in F2 this weekend, as he will replace Kevin Magnussen in F1. Italian Gabriele Mini replaces him and qualified eighth.

Niels Koolen was no less than ten seconds short of the fastest time in free practice and qualifying did not fare much better. The Dutchman, who is in his second F2 race weekend, qualified at the back, although the difference with pole-sitter Verschoor was now 'only' a mere seven seconds.