F2 Bahrain: Maini heads Invicta 1-2 in qualifying

Alpine academy driver Kush Maini will start the Formula 2 feature race from pole position after topping qualifying in Bahrain.

Maini saw off Invicta Racing team-mate Gabriel Bortoleto by 1m48.814s to score the first two points of the F2 season.

In the end, pole position was secured by what on paper looked like a relatively comfortable margin of 0.219s, but this was far from the case with the order shuffling considerably as each driver crossed the line.

Taylor Barnard was one of the few drivers who was able to keep his tyres in the window for two laps and improved in the final moments to secure 10th and pole position for the season-opening reverse-grid sprint on Friday.

Jak Crawford narrowly avoided being the first driver to cause a red flag in a qualifying session this season after suffering a spin at Turn 2 on his first flying lap. Spinning the rears up while the American was unable to catch the rear of his car but crucially kept the engine going.

Following his continuation, the stewards began an investigation into his rejoin, believing it was potentially unsafe.

Maini set the early pace with a 1m42.533s from Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport), with the former seemingly coming out of nowhere after being only 12th in practice.

Isack Hadjar, Campos Racing

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

Isack Hadjar and Pepe Marti went against the grain with their qualifying strategy, with the Campos Racing drivers both setting out on their first runs during the gap between the stints of the other 20 drivers.

This yielded immediate results as the pair flew to the top of the order – Hadjar leading the way with a 1m42.418s despite a relatively scruffy effort that included a lock-up. Marti registered the second-best time, just 0.021s back from his team-mate.

As darkness began to fall, the field exited the pits one final time. The timing screen lit up with a flood of green and purple sectors with almost every driver improving.

Enzo Fitipaldi crossed the line first to move up to the top but Zane Maloney, Hauger and Ritomo Miyata were quick to push him back, with Zak O’Sullivan also forcing back the Van Amersfoort Racing entry.

But last to cross the line were Maini, Bortoleto and Hadjar, with the trio positioning themselves in that order at the top of the table.

In the initial runs, the tyres proved strong enough to last for just one hot lap and try as Maloney might, but he was unable to improve his effort the second time around. While first sector splits showed as green, the middle sector saw drop-offs of around half a second.

Bucking the trend was Barnard in the PHM AIX Racing entry, with a last-gasp effort that put him up to 10th, and reverse grid pole sprint race.

F2 Bahrain - Qualifying results


Cla	Driver	#	Laps	Time	Interval	km/h
1	K. Maini Invicta Racing	9	10	1'41.696		191.582
2	G. Bortoleto Invicta Racing	10	10	+0.219 1'41.915	0.219	191.171
3	I. Hadjar Campos Racing	20	8	+0.242 1'41.938	0.023	191.127
4	Z. Maloney Rodin Motorsport	5	12	+0.286 1'41.982	0.044	191.045
5	D. Hauger MP Motorsport	11	12	+0.294 1'41.990	0.008	191.030
6	R. Miyata Rodin Motorsport	6	12	+0.307 1'42.003	0.013	191.006
7	Z. O'Sullivan ART Grand Prix	2	11	+0.318 1'42.014	0.011	190.985
8	E. Fittipaldi Van Amersfoort Racing	14	12	+0.374 1'42.070	0.056	190.880
9	V. Martins ART Grand Prix	1	11	+0.462 1'42.158	0.088	190.716
10	T. Barnard PHM AIX Racing	25	11	+0.511 1'42.207	0.049	190.624
11	J. Crawford DAMS Lucas Oil	7	11	+0.591 1'42.287	0.080	190.475
12	P. Martí Campos Racing	21	8	+0.637 1'42.333	0.046	190.390
13	P. Aron Hitech Pulse-Eight	17	11	+0.644 1'42.340	0.007	190.377
14	J. Correa DAMS Lucas Oil	8	12	+0.673 1'42.369	0.029	190.323
15	R. Villagomez Van Amersfoort Racing	15	12	+0.696 1'42.392	0.023	190.280
16	F. Colapinto MP Motorsport	12	12	+0.696 1'42.392	0.000	190.280
17	R. Verschoor Trident	22	10	+0.948 1'42.644	0.252	189.813
18	A. Kimi Prema Powerteam	4	11	+0.997 1'42.693	0.049	189.722
19	O. Bearman Prema Powerteam	3	11	+1.014 1'42.710	0.017	189.691
20	A. Cordeel Hitech Pulse-Eight	16	11	+1.249 1'42.945	0.235	189.258
21	R. Staněk Trident	23	10	+1.372 1'43.068	0.123	189.032
22	J. Duerksen PHM AIX Racing	24	11	+1.457 1'43.153	0.085	188.876
View full results