Sargeant denies Iwasa his first F2 pole by six thousandths of a second

Formula 2

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Logan Sargeant denied Ayumu Iwasa his first pole position in Formula 2 with a last-gasp run which deposed the DAMS driver by just six thousandths of a second.

Pole for Sunday’s feature race was decided in a thrilling end to a session which was briefly interrupted by a red flag when Dennis Hauger’s Prema car came to a stop.

Jack Doohan set the best time in the first 10 minutes of the session, putting in a 1’44.953, finding two tenths over second-fastest Jüri Vips in the third sector. On his subsequent lap, Doohan improved by seven tenths by the second sector. However Sargeant had crossed the line with a 1’44.599, and Doohan’s effort ended up two-and-a-half tenths shy.

That time was then deleted for a track limits infringement. Doohan wasn’t the only driver to fall foul of this: Cem Bolukbasi and Olli Caldwell also lost lap times.

The track temperature dropped by less than 1C over the opening half of the session, from 48C to 47.3C. Drivers pitted for fresh tyres and then played the waiting game for optimal track conditions on their last run.

Technical trouble thwarted two of them. Enzo Fittipaldi was unable to take a second run, getting out of his Charouz car ahead of the final 10 minutes of running. Dennis Hauger then pulled to the side of the track with seven and a half minutes left, prompting a red flag while his car was retrieved.

After the session restarted Sargeant’s time was beaten by 1’44.241 by championship leader Felipe Drugovich. Théo Pourchaire and Frederick Vesti then took it in turns to snatch the top spot.

As drivers began their final laps Ayumu Iwasa vaulted into first place with a 1’43.877. However, he did not beat the chequered flag to start a subsequent lap and could only look on as others improved their times.

To begin with Iwasa’s time held: Drugovich held third while Vesti crossed the line fast enough to stay in second. However, Sargeant was the last of the leaders across the line and beat Iwasa’s time by six thousandths of a second to take his second feature race pole position of the year.

An incident involving David Beckmann and Roberto Merhi was noted on the final lap of the session. The two substitutes appeared to be racing each other coming out of the final corner, and Beckmann was forced wide as they drove along the pit straight.

Jehan Daruvala set the 10th best time, meaning he will start the sprint race from pole position, with Liam Lawson joining him on the front row.

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Formula 2 French qualifying results

PositionCarDriverTeam
16Logan SargeantCarlin
217Ayumu IwasaDAMS
39Frederik VestiART
411Felipe DrugovichMP
53Jack DoohanVirtuosi
610Theo PourchaireART
78Juri VipsHitech
87Marcus ArmstrongHitech
95Liam LawsonCarlin
102Jehan DaruvalaPrema
1120Richard VerschoorTrident
124Marino SatoVirtuosi
1321Calan WilliamsTrident
1422Enzo FittipaldiCharouz
1515Roberto MerhiCampos
1612Clement NovalakMP
1724David BeckmannVan Amersfoort
181Dennis HaugerPrema
1925Amaury CordeelVan Amersfoort
2016Roy NissanyDAMS
2114Olli CaldwellCampos
22Cem BolukbasiCharouz

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Author information

Hazel Southwell
Hazel is a motorsport and automotive journalist with a particular interest in hybrid systems, electrification, batteries and new fuel technologies....

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2 comments on “Sargeant denies Iwasa his first F2 pole by six thousandths of a second”

  1. Given Sargeant’s sudden form, I don’t rule him out as a Latifi replacement option.
    If he keeps his form until the end, I’d even start considering him as the most likely successor.

    1. I don’t think finding a quicker driver than Latifi was ever the issue, although someone with such a commanding name can’t be a bad choice. I think it’s all going to be down to the sponsorship money, and if Latifi can bring some more to make up for even poorer form this year. I’m sure there are at least a few faster drivers even in current, not so impressive F2 field (Merhi returned after years of absence and showed them how talented they really are), and of course former F2 drivers, Indy drivers… Speaking of F2, I guess Nissany would be a fine fit for Williams, but if politics allow they could ponder the spectacular return of Mazepin. Kubica is still available as well…

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