Formula 2: Leo Fornaroli wins his first pole
Qualifying in Formula 2 took place in conditions of heat and a very low level of rubber adhesion to the track, and in these circumstances Leonardo Fornaroli, the debutant of the series, competing for the Invicta Racing team, distinguished himself.
The first protocol was headed by the experienced Victor Martin, a French ART racer who recently joined the Williams youth program, but Fornaroli almost immediately ousted him from the first line. However, it was clear that at the beginning of the session the results were not quite representative and would only grow.
In general, it seemed that in the first half of qualifying, the riders were only aiming at the track, analyzing the real level of grip and trying to predict the dynamics of improving the condition of the surface in order to really attack in the last minutes of the session.
Shortly before the short pause, during which everyone returned to the pit lane almost simultaneously for fresh soft tires, Jose "Pepe" Marti, a representative of Spanish Campos Racing, rose to second place, but he drove a lap more than two tenths worse than Fornaroli.
The teams also used this break to point out their mistakes to their riders and give advice on how and in which sections of the lap they could still improve.
With about 8 minutes left before the end of the session, the cars returned to the track, but Kush Maini hesitated and left last: the DAMS team mechanics could not immediately start his car.
It looked like the qualifying participants only had time to make one decisive attempt, but it was preceded by at least two laps at a moderate pace in order to properly prepare the tires.
Martin started the fastest lap – of course, he went with an improved schedule, showed absolutely the best time in the second sector, and also in the third, and rose to the first place, but remained there only until Fornaroli completed his lap. Leonardo showed a score of 1:44.008, which no one has managed to surpass, and when the team informed him about it on the radio, he did not even immediately believe it and asked several times.: "Am I on pole position for sure? Has it already been confirmed?" He was assured that there could be no doubt. This was the first such achievement by last year's Formula 3 champion in a higher-level series behind the wheel of a faster car. Victor Martin's car will be on the front row next to his yellow Dallara on Sunday, Luke Browning and Alex Dunne will start the race from the second, Roman Stanek and Richard Fershor from the third.
And Saturday's sprint from pole position will be started by Joshua Durksen, the Paraguayan racer of AIX Racing, who is still leading in the individual standings – today he showed the 10th time, and in the youth series a partially reversed starting order is used.
Qualification results
Pilot
The Time Team
Difference
Circles
1. L.Fornaroli
Invicta Racing
1:44.008
-
10
2. V.Martin
ART Grand Prix
1:44.163
+0.155
10
3 . L. Browning
Hitech GP
1:44.292
+0.284
11
4 . A.Dunne
Rodin Motorsport
1:44.324
+0.316
10
5 . R.Stanek
Invicta Racing
1:44.555
+0.547
10
6 . R.Fershor
MP Motorsport
1:44.611
+0.603
08
7 . S.Megetunif
Trident
1:44.709
+0.701
10
8 . R.Villagomes
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:44.746
+0.738
10
9 . D.Beganovich
Hitech GP
1:44.765
+0.757
11
10. D. Durksen
AIX Racing
1:44.802
+0.794
11
11. X.Marty
Campos Racing
1:44.831
+0.823
08
12. G.Mini
Prema Racing
1:44.839
+0.831
10
13. D. Bennett
Van Amersfoort Racing
1:44.866
+0.858
10
14. D. Crawford
DAMS
1:44.937
+0.929
09
15. Fr. Goethe
MP Motorsport
1:44.963
+0.955
08
16. A.Lindblad
Campos Racing
1:44.975
+0.967
08
17. M.Esterson
Trident
1:44.986
+0.978
09
18. S. Montoya
Prema Racing
1:45.051
+1.043
10
19. R.Miata
ART Grand Prix
1:45.152
+1.144
10
20. K.Maini
DAMS
1:45.263
+1.255
09
21. A.Kordil
Rodin Motorsport
1:45.960
+1.952
10
22. K. Shields
AIX Racing
1:46.056
+2.048
11
Other articles
Leclair: I intend to recoup the backlog as soon as possible.
On Friday in Bahrain, Ferrari racers analyzed the work of the first set of technical innovations prepared by the team for this stage of the season...
Hajjar: It all depends on the little things in the qualification
On Friday, Isaac Hajjar clocked sixth time in the second practice session, ahead of not only his Racing Bulls teammate, but also Max Verstappen from the first team.…
Russell 'needs to work harder' to retain his place at Mercedes.
Formula 1 | Although some have praised George Russell's early showings in 2025, Ralf Schumacher believes he must achieve more to guarantee a new contract with Mercedes (…)
Berra: We won't see a repeat of what happened in Suzuka.
The balance of power in Bahrain this weekend is determined by the teams' ability to work effectively with rubber in hot conditions.…
Aston Martin believes that the track is not suitable for their car.
Fernando Alonso completed only 19 laps on the first day of the Bahrain race weekend. In the first practice session, he lost his car to Aston Martin reserve driver Felipe Drugovich, and in the second session he lost half an hour due to a steering problem.
Piastri leads in the second practice session
Oscar Piastri led the protocol of the second training session in Bahrain...
Formula 2: Leo Fornaroli wins his first pole
Qualifying for F2 took place in conditions of heat and a very low level of rubber adhesion to the track, and in these circumstances, debutant Leonardo Fornaroli, who plays for the Invicta Racing team, distinguished himself...