Formula 2: Kush Miney wins pole position for the first time

After Formula 3, Formula 2 drivers took part in qualifying at the Bahrain circuit, and in a new generation of cars that look somewhat unusual, especially their rear wings with a very unusual shape.

Enzo Fittipaldi immediately climbed to first place, but this could not yet be considered a bid for pole position, as the results would gradually improve, which was soon proven by Richard Vershord, who improved the Brazilian’s time by five in one go seconds improved, and then added the rest, and they really improved.

The first to show a more or less representative result was Dennis Hauger, who completed a lap in 1:42.528, but Enzo also went much faster – at this stage of the session he was around three tenths behind the leader. But soon their results were surpassed by Kush Miney, improving Hauger’s time by just over four-tenths.

The first to leave the track was the American Jack Crawford, who will play for the DAMS team this year. However, this did not cause any complications and he was able to continue driving, so there were no yellow flags. They finally showed up, and thanks to him, and at the very end of the session, so that’s a whole different story.

Initially there was only one Formula 2 debutant in the top five, the British Zach O’Sullivan, and the rest of the drivers already had experience in this series, but later the picture gradually changed. Although Isaac Hajjar topped the scoresheet, Jose Maria “Pepe” Marti, a newcomer to Spanish team Campos, moved up to second place.

When about half of the 30-minute session was over, the drivers returned to the pit lane to get new sets of tires and continue the battle for the first pole position of the season.

Then another debutant immediately attracted attention, the Japanese Ritomo Miata, last year’s Super Formula champion – he climbed to third place, just slightly behind those who were faster than him at that time. But it didn’t last long: Kush Maini added speed and completed the lap in 1:41.696. But the second time was shown by his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto, who won the F3 title in 2023 and is starting his first season in F2.

The first qualifying of the year came to an end and no one could beat Maini’s time, although many tried. But it didn’t work out, and as a result the team’s bright yellow car, which will be called Invicta Racing in 2024, will start from pole in the weekend’s main race – for Maini this is the first such achievement in F2.

Bortoleto will start the race alongside him from the front row, the second row will be occupied by the cars of Hajar and Zane Maloney, and Hauger and Miata will start from the third row. That. Beginners immediately begin to crowd out the more experienced riders.

Pole in tomorrow’s sprint went to Briton Taylor Barnard, another debutant: literally at the very end of qualifying he showed the 10th fastest time – in Formula 2 a partially reversed starting order is used.

The surprises of the first day of the weekend include the very unconvincing performance of the riders of the Prema team, which is usually among the favorites. But today something went wrong and her riders, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Oliver Berman, found themselves in a distant 18th and 19th place. Moreover, they lost a full second to the pole holder.

Tomorrow’s Formula 2 sprint starts at 5:15 p.m. local time, which coincides with Moscow time, when the day is already approaching evening, and the race ends when it is already really dark and the track is flooded with floodlights.

Qualifying results