F2: Pourchaire takes impressive pole in Sakhir

Sauber Academy member Theo Pourchaire claimed a dominant pole position in the first FIA Formula 2 qualifying session of the season.

The Frenchman driver was 0.75s quicker than next-best and ART Grand Prix team mate, Victor Martins. Richard Verschoor was the best-placed driver from another team, almost a second down on Pourchaire’s 1m 40.903s.

Red Bull Junior Dennis Hauger opened his account with MP Motorsport with P4, finding an improvement late on to break into the top five. Frederik Vesti qualified fifth, but the Mercedes junior driver was handed a three-place grid penalty for impeding Arthur Leclerc following the session. It drops the PREMA Racing man down to ninth for the Sprint Race on Saturday.

F3: Alpine junior Mini takes pole on Sakhir debut

Kush Maini secured P6 on his Formula 2 debut ahead of another Red Bull Junior, this time in the form of Ayumu Iwasa. He was just 0.039s clear of team mate Leclerc, while Roman Stanek impressed for Trident on his F2 bow in ninth.

Ralph Boschung rounded out the top 10 and will start the Sprint from reverse grid pole.

Lights out for the first F2 Sprint Race of the season is set for 1915 local time.

To read the full report, head to the official Formula 2 website.