2022 vice-champion Theo Pourchaire headed into his third season as the championship favorite, the Sauber Academy driver did not disappoint as he went top of the times by 7 tenths over teammate Victor Martins<\/a>.<\/p>\n All drivers had two runs with the soft tires with Pourchaire leading the way both times. Alpine reserve driver Jack Doohan had a session to forget as he qualified P17, behind his teammate Amaury Cordeel. Campos’ Ralph Boscung headed into the session hoping to improve on his best qualifying session of P4 and will start pole for the Sprint Race.<\/p>\n Boschung’s teammate Kush Maini qualified the best out of the Formula 3 graduates with a P6 finish ahead of Arthur Leclerc<\/a> in P8 and Stanek in P9.<\/p>\n Drivers struggled with tire temperature as they found themselves locking up on various parts of the circuit, including frontman Pourchaire. Boschung found himself going completely off the track while on a personal best. MP Motorsport’s Jehan Deruvula had a disappointing session as poor track position left him unable to set a lap close to his teammate Dennis Hauger. The Indian racer qualified 11th.<\/p>\n Mercedes Junior and PREMA driver Frederik Vesti qualified fifth while his rookie teammate Ollie Bearman<\/a> found himself on course for a personal best before he struggled with the tires, almost spinning the car.<\/p>\n Theo Pourchaire absolutely dominated the first qualifying of 2023! \ud83e\udd29#BahrainGP<\/a> #F2<\/a>https:\/\/t.co\/VIA4qBWad7<\/a><\/p>\n — Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 3, 2023<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n