Formula 2: The qualification in Miami was won by Kush Maini.

      For the first time in the history of both Formula 2 and the Miami Grand Prix, the youth series races are taking place on a track laid out around the Hard Rock Stadium complex, and this fact alone promises increased interest in the event. Moreover, American audiences are familiar with names like Colton Herta (who set the best time in today's practice) and Sebastian Montoya – although, of course, in the USA, they know Juan Pablo, the elder Montoya, who had quite a successful career in IndyCar and NASCAR.

      However, the track in Florida is known to F2 drivers only from simulators. It was all the more interesting to see who would adapt to it faster and better, and the qualification was supposed to provide part of the answer to this question.

      In F2, it lasts only half an hour, and after the first fast laps, Brazilian Rafael Camara (Invicta Racing), who distinguished himself at the first stage of the season in Melbourne by finishing 2nd in the main race of the weekend, climbed to the top spot.

      Experienced Alex Dunn (Rodin Motorsport), now a participant in the Alpine youth program, was just over a tenth behind him. His teammate, Norwegian Martinus Stenshorn, took third place, but overall it was clear that the qualifying participants were just getting used to the rather challenging track, and the main battle was expected to begin in the second half of the session when the drivers would receive fresh sets of SuperSoft tires.

      The "main forces," it seems, were still keeping a low profile – including Nikola Tsolov (Campos), who leads the individual standings, and experienced drivers like Dino Beganovic and Joshua Dürksen, the winner of Saturday's sprint in Melbourne. The mentioned reserve driver from Cadillac, Colton Herta, was in 10th place, while Montoya Jr. was in 12th.

      With less than ten minutes remaining in the session, the battle for pole resumed, and initially, Tsolov moved to the top spot, but he was quickly surpassed by a whole group of drivers, with the best time set by Indian F2 veteran Kush Maini – 1:39.888. In his next attempt, Camara was only 0.033 seconds behind him, but theoretically, everyone could have time for another attempt, although the tires were already in less than optimal condition, especially since the weather in Miami is quite hot.

      By the way, Herta made a mistake during his second attempt, causing him to drop to 14th place. Dunn also made a mistake but managed to stay fourth. And when about a minute was left in the session, and many were on their last fast lap, Stenshorn's car suddenly and quite intensely started smoking, stopping on the side of the track.

      This meant that the session ended prematurely, and the results would not change, so the pole went to 25-year-old Kush Maini, a driver for ART, who is already in his fourth season in F2. This is only his second such achievement in his entire time competing in this series.

      It is also worth noting Rafael Camara's second result and Stenshorn's third time, although it was precisely because of his problems that some drivers likely could not improve their positions.

      However, Nikola Tsolov, who showed the 10th time, will start from pole in tomorrow's sprint, as partially reversed starting order is applied in the first race of the weekend in youth series.

      Qualification results

      Driver

       Team

       Time

       Difference

       Laps

      

      1. K.Maini

       ART Grand Prix

       1:39.888

       -

       11

      

      2. R.Camara

       Invicta Racing

       1:39.921

       +0.033

       13

      

      3. M.Stenshorn

       Rodin Motorsport

       1:39.938

       +0.050

       11

      

      4. A.Dunn

       Rodin Motorsport

       1:40.057

       +0.169

       12

      

      5. G.Mini

       MP Motorsport

       1:40.111

       +0.223

       13

      

      6. N.Varrone

       Van Amersfoort Racing

       1:40.204

       +0.316

       12

      

      7. J.Dürksen

       Invicta Racing

       1:40.208

       +0.320

       12

      

      8. O.Göte

       MP Motorsport

       1:40.216

       +0.328

       13

      

      9. L.van Hoopen

       Trident

       1:40.223

       +0.335

       14

      

      10. N.Tsolov

       Campos Racing

       1:40.265

       +0.377

       13

      

      11. D.Beganovic

       DAMS

       1:40.407

       +0.519

       12

      

      12. T.Intrafusak

       ART Grand Prix

       1:40.456

       +0.568

       12

      

      13. N.Leon

       Campos Racing

       1:40.461

       +0.573

       14

      

      14. C.Herta

       Hitech

       1:40.473

       +0.585

       13

      

      15. D.Bennett

       Trident

       1:40.552

       +0.664

       14

      

      16. M.Boya

       Prema Racing

       1:40.554

       +0.666

       11

      

      17. R.Miata

       Hitech

       1:40.612

       +0.724

       13

      

      18. E.Fittipaldi

       AIX Racing

       1:40.634

       +0.746

       13

      

      19. R.Villagomez

       Van Amersfoort Racing

       1:40.674

       +0.786

       11

      

      20. S.Montoya

       Prema Racing

       1:40.678

       +0.790

       11

      

      21. R.Bilinski

       DAMS

       1:40.798

       +0.910

       14

      

      22. K.Shields

       AIX Racing

       1:41.157

       +1.269

       13