Martins beats title rivals Bortoleto, Aron and Hadjar to pole position · RaceFans

Alpine junior driver Victor Martins secured pole position for Sunday’s championship deciding Formula 2 feature race at Yas Marina, beating all three title contenders.

Martins’s best time of 1’35.745 was enough to beat Gabriel Bortoleto by half a tenth, with contender Paul Aron in third behind.

Despite telling his Campos race engineer that he was going to get pole, Isack Hadjar had to settle for fourth on the grid with less than a tenth covering the title contenders.

The final qualifying session of the F2 season was by far the most important. Not just in deciding the pole winner for Sunday’s championship deciding feature race, but for the two bonus points available for the driver who set the fastest time in the session.

Bortoleto, one of the two drivers separated by half a point at the top of the championship, set the early provisional pole time with a 1’36.050, with Martins the closest to him and Hadjar his nearest championship rival in fifth. Martins improved to take the top spot, while Hadjar also moved up to third place behind Bortoleto with their second runs.

With under five minutes to go, the session was red-flagged when Rafael Villagomez came to a stop in the first sector. That allowed just enough time for all drivers to complete one final flying lap before the end of the session.

Bortoleto improved his time over the opening two sectors on his final push lap but failed to beat Martins’ benchmark. Martins could not improve either, leaving the door open for Hadjar, one of the last to take the flag. However, the Campos driver lost time in the final sector and was forced to settle for fourth as Aron moved up to split his two rivals in third.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Martins was therefore confirmed for pole for Sunday’s feature race with Bortoleto on the front row. Aron and Hadjar will start on the second row with Dino Beganovic fifth, who is under investigation for failing to follow the race directors’ instructions regarding entering the support event pit lane along the back straight.

Kush Maini was seventh but also under investigation for impeding, with Ritomo Miyata and Joshua Duerksen behind. Amaury Cordeel will start on reverse-grid pole for Saturday’s sprint race after qualifying tenth.

Formula 2 Abu Dhabi qualifying results