Paul Aron beat Gabriel Bortoleto to pole position for the Formula 2 feature race by three tenths of a second at the Losail International Circuit.
The Hitech driver had already secured pole by less than a tenth of a second but improved on his final lap at the chequered flag to consolidate his fourth feature race pole of the season.
Sauber-bound Bortoleto will start alongside him on the front row for Sunday’s feature race, with Victor Martins starting from third.
No fewer than four drivers are making their F2 debuts in Qatar this weekend. Ferrari junior driver Dino Beganovic made the best first impression by far with fourth on the grid. Having taken over Juan Manuel Correa’s seat at DAMS, Beganovic could hardly believe his engineer when told on his radio he will start his first feature race from the second row.
Richard Verschoor qualified fifth on his return to MP Motorsport, ahead of Jak Crawford, Kush Maini and Oliver Goethe. Championship contender Isack Hadjar could only manage ninth, while Oliver Bearman beat Prema team mate and 2025 Formula 1 rival Andrea Kimi Antonelli to a place in the top ten.
Of the other drivers making their debuts, Max Esterson was the next best performer in 13th ahead of John Bennett in 19th. Cian Shields was slowest in 22nd position.
Bearman will start on reverse-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race, with Hadjar starting alongside him.
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Formula 2 Qatar qualifying results
| Position | Car | Driver | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 17 | Paul Aron | Hitech |
| 2 | 10 | Gabriel Bortoleto | Invicta |
| 3 | 1 | Victor Martins | ART |
| 4 | 8 | Dino Beganovic | DAMS |
| 5 | 11 | Richard Verschoor | MP Motorsport |
| 6 | 7 | Jak Crawford | DAMS |
| 7 | 9 | Kush Maini | Invicta |
| 8 | 12 | Oliver Goethe | MP Motorsport |
| 9 | 20 | Isack Hadjar | Campos |
| 10 | 3 | Oliver Bearman | Prema |
| 11 | 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema |
| 12 | 21 | Pepe Martí | Campos |
| 13 | 22 | Max Esterson | Trident |
| 14 | 2 | Luke Browning | ART |
| 15 | 6 | Ritomo Miyata | Rodin |
| 16 | 24 | Joshua Duerksen | AIX |
| 17 | 5 | Zane Maloney | Rodin |
| 18 | 16 | Amaury Cordeel | Hitech |
| 19 | 14 | John Bennett | Van Amersfoort |
| 20 | 23 | Christian Mansell | Trident |
| 21 | 15 | Rafael Villagómez | Van Amersfoort |
| 22 | 25 | Cian Shields | AIX |
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Formula 2
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