Dennis Hauger secured his first Formula 2 feature race pole position by beating Mercedes junior driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli in a crash-strewn qualifying session at Albert Park.
The MP driver completed his final lap at the chequered flag to beat Antonelli by three tenths of a second and secure pole.
The finish of the session was impacted by a yellow flag at turn six for Enzo Fittipaldi spinning off into the barriers. Hauger appeared to have passed by the scene of the incident before the yellow flags were shown as he set his pole-winning time.
Antonelli will start on a front row for the first time in Formula 2. His team mate, Ferrari junior Oliver Bearman – who raced in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix for the team – could only manage 16th on the grid.
Richard Verschoor was third ahead of Kush Maini, whose last lap was affected when team mate Gabriel Bortoleto ran off at turn 12 on his final attempt. Zane Maloney secured fifth after being on provisional pole with under five minutes remaining, with Paul Aron qualifying sixth for Hitech.
Pepe Marti will start seventh on Sunday ahead of Campos team mate Isack Hadjar with Bortoleto ninth. Roman Stanek will start from reverse-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race after qualifying in tenth.
Red Bull junior Jak Crawford endured a torrid qualifying session. He suffered rear wheel damage after striking the wall during an early run then crashed out at turn 12 with five minutes remaining. Alpine junior Victor Martins also spun out of the session on his first timed lap after running over the kerb at the apex of turn five and losing control of his ART over a bump.
Williams junior Franco Colapinto was noted by race control for crossing the white line at pit exit on his way onto the track at the start of the session. Crawford and Williams junior Zak O’Sullivan will also be investigated after qualifying over an alleged impeding incident.
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Formula 2 Australian qualifying results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport |
| 2 | 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema |
| 3 | 22 | Richard Verschoor | Trident |
| 4 | 9 | Kush Maini | Invicta |
| 5 | 5 | Zane Maloney | Rodin |
| 6 | 17 | Paul Aron | Hitech |
| 7 | 21 | Josep Maria Marti | Campos |
| 8 | 20 | Isack Hadjar | Campos |
| 9 | 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta |
| 10 | 23 | Roman Stanek | Trident |
| 11 | 2 | Zak O’Sullivan | ART |
| 12 | 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin |
| 13 | 12 | Franco Colapinto | MP Motorsport |
| 14 | 24 | Joshua Duerksen | PHM |
| 15 | 25 | Taylor Barnard | PHM |
| 16 | 3 | Ollie Bearman | Prema |
| 17 | 15 | Rafael Villagomez | Van Amersfoort |
| 18 | 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Van Amersfoort |
| 19 | 16 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech |
| 20 | 8 | Juan Manuel… |
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