F2: Lawson takes maiden championship pole in Red Bull junior 1-2 in Baku

Round 3 of the Formula 2 season has been an all Red Bull Junior Team affair so far, with Liam Lawson taking pole for the first time in Azerbaijan qualifying, 0.138s ahead of Hitech Grand Prix team mate Juri Vips, who had topped free practice earlier on Friday.

Alpine junior Oscar Piastri claimed third ahead of Sauber Academy star Theo Pourchaire – who became F2’s youngest race winner in Monaco two weeks ago – but it was an all-Hitech shoot out for pole, with Lawson and Vips in a league of their own.

After trading fastest laps with Williams’ prodigy Dan Ticktum, Ferrari’s Marcus Armstrong was on provisional pole following the first run, but the duo had to settle for fifth and sixth, unable to keep up with Hitech in the second half of the session.

Finishing 10th overall, Ferrari junior Robert Shwartzman will start ahead of Red Bull Academy’s Jehan Daruvala in Saturday’s reverse grid Sprint Race 1, which takes place at 1125 local time in Baku.

Qualifying set the grid for Sunday morning's Feature Race that takes place at 1245 local time, while the grid for Race 2 at 1740 on Saturday will be set by reversing the top 10 finishers of Sprint Race 1.

For more on F2, visit the official series website.