The fifth Qualifying session of the year went underway as Rodin’s Alex Dunne secured his maiden pole position at the F2 Monaco GP, full report and results below.
After topping Free Practice, ART GP’s Victor Martins entered Qualifying as a strong contender for pole. However, it was Dunne on top form who denied the Frenchman a chance of claiming his first pole-position of the season.
Unlike other weekends, the qualifying format in Monaco is different. Due to the narrow and tight nature of the track, drivers are split into two groups to reduce traffic: odd-numbered cars in one and even-numbered cars in the other. Both groups get 16-minutes to set their fastest times. The driver with the fastest driver overall claims pole, whilst the next fastest starts in P2. Subsequently, the remaining drivers line up by alternating the top times from each group to set the grid for Sunday.
Group A Qualifying: Even-numbered cars
16 minutes ticked down as green lights went out at the end of the pit lane for the first group of 11 drivers as Roman Stanek led the way out on track. Due to the slow-speed nature of the circuit, drivers spent several laps on preparation laps for tyre warmup. However, Victor Martins was first to set-off, on what looked like a fast-lap, but quickly backed off before going once more.
Meanwhile, Joshua Dürksen was the first driver on a representative lap—a good banker lap with a time of 1:23.242. It did not take long before Martins who set three purple sectors on his lap and claimed his position at the top with a 1:21.792—with Gabriele Minì who followed behind with a 1:22.836. Up next, Arvid Lindblad’s first push lap was enough to slot him into P2 with a 1:22.083, just narrowly missing out on Martins’ time. Richard Verschoor was next across the line as he slotted himself in P3 behind Lindblad—with a lap time of 1:22.117.
Martins, however, found his way across and cut the chicane, which resulted in a lap time deletion. Meanwhile, all eyes were on Lindblad who was three tenths up in the first sector. Across the line, Lindblad’s next push-lap knocked Martins down into P2—with a time of 1:21.714. But, Verschoor who was next across the line narrowly beats Lindblad just moments later with a 1:21.145 to the top. Martins’ experience around the principality shone as the Frenchman’s impressive effort catapulted to the top once again with a 1:21.145—putting three tenths in between him and Verschoor.
The fight for provisional pole continued. Succumbing to the pressure, Lindblad looked to be improving but locked his tyres up and had to run across the chicane. Momentarily, yellow flags were brought out for Dino Beganovic who found the run-off area. Time was running out, all drivers seemed to be improving. However, Martins’ run prior to the final push-laps was simply enough to maintain his position at the top. A lap faster which was a tenth faster than last year’s pole lap as well.
Standings for Group A:
- Victor Martins 1:21.145
- Richard Verschoor
- Arvid Lindblad
- Gabriele Minì
- Kush Maini
- Joshua Dürksen
- Roman Stanek
- Amaury Cordeel
- Dino Beganovic
- Sami Meguetounif
- John Bennett
Group B Qualifying: Odd-numbered cars
As Group A’s session concluded, pressure was on the next group of drivers to bring the fight to Martins for pole. 16 minutes ticked down once more, as Leonardo Fornaroli led the pack out. Similar to Group A, drivers spent several laps on preparation laps focused on tyre warmup once again.
Rafael Villagómez brought out the red flag early into the session after battling for track position with Alex Dunne into the last corner as the Mexican ended up with a broken front wing — a penalty for the Irish driver is likely to follow. However, it did not take long before the session resumed once more. As 11 minutes remained, drivers were eager to get their first representative laps on the board. Fornaroli was first across the line with a 1:23.782, but was still far off from Martins’ time. Sebastian Montoya was next across the line to claim his position at the top with a time of 1:23.680.
As Dunne struggled to find some clean-air on track, Dunne’s first push-lap was enough to catapult to the top with a 1:21.781—almost in reach of Martins’ time now. Up next, Luke Browning was across the line with a lap time of 1:22.008 enough to slot him into P3. Last of the first push-laps was Pepe Martí with a 1:22.454 placing the Spaniard in P5. Locking up into the chicane, Fornaroli had to back out of his push-lap. Meanwhile, Dunne’s maintained his position out infront as he improved his lap with a 1:21.437. Montoya had an impressive qualifying, putting in some fast-lap which constantly allowed him to claim his spot near the top. The Colombian was able to find more time on his next push-lap as his lap enough for P2 was a 1:21.740.
All drivers were on their final flying laps as everyone held their breaths watching Dunne’s final flying lap. The Irishman snatched pole from Martins by three thousandths of a second. However, cameras panned to Montoya facing the wrong direction, denying drivers behind him— like Browning and Martí—their final runs of the session.
Standings for Group B:
- Alex Dunne 1:21.142
- Leonardo Fornaroli
- Sebastian Montoya
- Jak Crawford
- Luke Browning
- Ritomo Miyata
- Ollie Goethe
- Pepe Martí
- Max Esterson
- Cian Shields
- Rafael Villagómez
As both sessions concluded, the final Qualifying results will set the grid for Sunday’s Feature Race. However, it is Browning and Maini who start on the front-row for the Sprint Race tomorrow.
Final results for F2 Qualifying at Monaco GP:
- Alex Dunne 1:21.142
- Victor Martins 1:21.145
- Leonardo Fornaroli
- Richard Verschoor
- Sebastian Montoya
- Arvid Lindblad
- Jak Crawford
- Gabriele Minì
- Luke Browning
- Kush Maini
- Ritomo Miyata
- Joshua Dürksen
- Ollie Goethe
- Roman Stanek
- Pepe Martí
- Amaury Cordeel
- Max Esterson
- Dino Beganovic
- Cian Shields
- Sami Meguetounif
- John Bennett
- Rafael Villagómez
