Formula 2 qualifying Baku | Iwasa invisible, surprising top three

Besides Formula 1, Formula 2 also set out on Friday to qualify for the race in Azerbaijan. In a surprising conclusion to the session, the championship leaders missed out on pole position, while drivers lower down the rankings actually came out on top.

The previous race in the championship was won by Ayumu Iwasa, which immediately gave the Japanese driver the lead in the championship. So there was plenty of pressure on the Red Bull Junior driver, but unfortunately for him, he only finished in 17th place. His title rivals Theo Pourchaire and Frederik Vesti finished third and fourth, respectively, behind a surprisingly good performance by Carlin driver Enzo Fittipaldi.

Even more surprising, however, was the winner of the day: Oliver Bearman managed to drive his Prema to the fastest time, securing his first pole position in Formula 2. So far the Ferrari junior had little to be proud of in his debut season in F2, as he is currently 16th in the championship with just five points. Bearman's performance in Baku, however, is one for the history books: the Briton hit the wall early in the session and sustained serious damage to his car. However, despite his steering wheel being bent, Bearman went back out and managed to improve his own fastest time and thus capture pole. A wide lead it was not: Fittipaldi, Pourchaire and Vesti were all within one tenth of the pole time.

Verschoor briefly took the lead

Dutchman Richard Verschoor briefly managed the fastest time, as did Red Bull junior Dennis Hauger. But where Hauger managed to secure a spot in the top five, Verschoor eventually dropped back to tenth. The top ten was further completed by Jehan Daruvala, Jak Crawford, Victor Martins and Zane Maloney.