F2: Verschoor edges out Antonelli to take pole position in Baku

Richard Verschoor was in excellent form on Friday afternoon as the Trident driver put in a phenomenal final lap in Qualifying to beat Andrea Kimi Antonelli to pole position in Baku.

The Trident driver was the pace-setter for most of the session, but with Antonelli having gone to provisional pole on his final lap, Verschoor went across the line moments later to complete a 1m 54.857s lap, giving him top spot by just 0.017s.

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It gives the Dutchman his second pole position of the season while the PREMA Racing rookie will line up from the front row on Sunday looking to add to his two victories this year.

Alpine Academy member Victor Martins rounded out the top three for ART Grand Prix with Sauber junior Zane Maloney just behind him in an impressive fourth for Rodin Motorsport.

The Invicta Racing pair of Kush Maini and Gabriel Bortoleto followed in fifth and sixth respectively, while AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen continued his fine form since the summer break by qualifying seventh.

Gabriele Minì, who is filling in for Oliver Bearman this weekend at PREMA, put in a fine performance on debut to qualify in eighth ahead of DAMS Lucas Oil driver Jak Crawford.

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Trident’s strong day continued when their debutant Christian Mansell went up to P10 on his final effort, giving him reverse grid pole for Saturday’s Sprint Race, which is scheduled to start at 14:15 local time.

But before the first of two races this weekend gets underway, you can read a more in-depth report from the FIA Formula 2 Qualifying from Baku on the official series website here.