Claiming his fifth consecutive pole position in Azerbaijan, Charles Leclerc headed to Silverstone, targeting a sixth pole position in six qualifying sessions in Formula 2.
Charles Leclerc secures sixth consecutive pole at Silverstone
Heading into qualifying, a number of drivers were looking quick and competitive around Silverstone and looking like they could challenge Leclerc. This included Oliver Rowland, Luca Ghiotto, Nicholas Latifi, and Artem Markelov who filled out second – fifth place in practice on Thursday.
In the opening minutes of the 30 minute qualifying session, Sean Gelael fell into difficulty straight away with smoke belching out the back of his Arden. While this was a worrying sign, Gelael managed to continue to lap in the first part of the session, blocking Antonio Fuoco in the process – an incident that will be investigated after the session.
Once all 20 drivers had completed their first runs, Charles Leclerc emerged as the early page setter, 0.298 seconds faster than Norman Nato who was his nearest challenger followed by Nicholas Latifi and Sergio Canamasas who both set the same time. With around 20 minutes remaining, drivers then began to pit following their first runs to prepare for their second runs of the session.
With 11 minutes remaining, the drivers pulled out of the pit lane to start their final runs of the session and Norman Nato improved to go fastest, before being pushed down to second fastest by Oliver Rowland when he improved. Charles Leclerc then claimed provisional pole position from Rowland by 0.458 seconds.
Due to rapidly deteriorating tyre life, no other driver set a second lap during the final run of the session, meaning that when the checkered flag waved, Charles Leclerc secured his sixth consecutive Formula 2 pole position. Oliver Rowland was his nearest challenger in the session, and will therefore start from second place alongside Leclerc for the Feature Race. Norman Nato rounded out the top three for Pertamina Arden Racing, meaning that he will start on the second row of the grid.
Going into the Feature Race, Charles Leclerc is once again looking strong for Prema Racing and will be looking for another win this weekend. Oliver Rowland, who is starting on the front row of the grid for the first time this season, will be targeting a good result, especially in front of his home crowd. The Briton will also be aiming to beat Leclerc in the race to try and close the gap to the Monégasque racer in the Drivers’ Championship.
Qualifying results for the British Formula 2 Feature Race:
- Charles Leclerc, Prema Racing, 1:38.427
- Oliver Rowland, DAMS, 1:38.885
- Norman Nato, Pertamina Arden Racing, 1:38.906
- Jordan King, MP Motorsport, 1:38.988
- Artem Markelov, Russian Time, 1:39.062
- Nicholas Latifi, DAMS, 1:39.138
- Sergio Canamasas, Rapax, 1:39.368
- Nobuharu Matsushita, ART Grand Prix, 1:39.405
- Sergio Sette Camara, MP Motorsport, 1:39.413
- Alexander Albon, ART Grand Prix, 1:39.566
- Nyck de Vries, Rapax, 1:39.594
- Gustav Malja, Racing Engineering, 1:39.879
- Luca Ghiotto, Russian Time, 1:39.959
- Louis Deletraz, Racing Engineering, 1:39.966
- Callum Ilott, Trident, 1:39.996
- Ralph Boschung, Campos Racing, 1:40.394
- Robert Visoiu, Campos Racing, 1:40.412
- Nabil Jeffri, Trident, 1:40.454
- Sean Gelael, Pertamina Arden Racing, 1:40.478
- Antonio Fuoco, Prema Racing, 1:40.568
