Written by Ellie Nicholls
The chequered flag has fallen on the final and most important qualifying of the 2024 Formula Two Season. With both the drivers' and teams' championships hanging in the balance, Ellie recaps how the action played out…
Victor Martins claims his first pole position of 2024 in Abu Dhabi | Image Credit: Formula 2
Title-contender Isack Hadjar went into the session confident that he would be able to claim pole position after setting the fastest time in Free Practice earlier today. However, it was Victor Martins setting the pace in the early stages of qualifying, two tenths clear of current championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto.
As the session progressed, track conditions began to ramp up, and drivers throughout the field were making improvements upon their initial times.
Provisional pole was traded between Bortoleto and Martins, with the latter still holding onto the fastest time as the red flag came out due to Rafael Villagomez stopping on track.
Qualifying was resumed with just enough time for drivers to complete one final flying lap - but it was uncertain whether the supersoft tyres would hold on for another push lap to allow drivers to improve their positions.
Despite being unable to beat his previous time, Martins was still able to claim pole position for the final race of 2024, his fastest lap just 0.035s clear of championship leader Bortoleto.
Although he may be disappointed to miss out on pole position and the accompanying two points by such a fine margin, Bortoleto crucially qualified ahead of Isack Hadjar, improving his chances of claiming the title on Sunday.
Bortoleto qualified in second, putting himself in a good position to claim the title. | Image credit: Formula 2 via X
One of the few drivers managing to shave off some time on their final lap was Paul Aron, with the driver currently third in the standings ending the session in third place. His fellow championship contender Isack Hadjar will start the feature race alongside him in fourth place.
Rapid rookie Dino Beganovic put in another impressive qualifying performance to conclude the session in fifth place, while this week’s sole debutant Leonardo Fornaroli managed a solid 13th in his first Formula Two qualifying session.
Importantly for Invicta Racing’s Championship hopes, Kush Maini put in a strong performance to qualify in sixth - ahead of Campos Racing’s Pepe Marti in seventh. This means that Campos have a mighty task ahead of them this weekend if they wish to claim the constructors' title.
So, after the final qualifying session of 2024, it appears that the cards have fallen in the favour of Gabriel Bortoleto and his team Invicta Racing. However, with Hadjar in fourth and Aron in third, there is everything still to play for, and nothing is decided yet.
As we have seen many times this year, anything can happen in Formula 2, and only one thing is certain: this weekend will be one for the history books…
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