» Formula 2: Albon on pole again

Alexander Albon has claimed his third pole position in a row, edging out Nyck de Vries to top spot by just one-hundredth of a second at the Circuit de Monaco.

The punishing street circuit claimed both Carlin entries, with championship leader Lando Norris and his teammate Sergio Sette Câmara crashing out.

With qualifying split into the two groups to manage track congestion, it was Norris who lead the way early on for Group A. As the Brit tried to consolidate his place at the top of the timesheets, he hit the wall at the exit of the Swimming Pool complex. He attempted to complete his la, but pitted on the following tour with a deranged front wing.

Norris, Carlin - 2018 Formula 2 Championship Race of Monaco

Lando Norris crashes out of qualifying.

Unable to return to the track for the remainder of the session, Norris tumbled down the order as other drivers improved their fastest times. He finished ninth-fastest among the session’s ten drivers, and later earned a grid penalty for impeding Albon on his in-lap to the pits.

While that particular lap of Albon’s was ruined, the Anglo-Thai driver eventually clocked a 1:21.727 effort.

In Group B, De Vries battled his way through traffic to find a clear lap and eventually posted a 1:21.737 time – good enough for second-fastest overall, but tantalizingly close to claiming pole position for himself.

De Vries’ fastest time demoted Sette Câmara from top spot. As the Brazilian attempted to regain the position, he crashed into the Sainte-Dévote barriers and appeared to clutch his wrist after emerging from his car. With one minute to go, the session was red-flagged. at this point.

Like his compatriot and championship rival Norris, George Russell had a similarly fraught Thursday outing. The Brit only ran four laps in the day’s sole practice session before his car struck engine trouble, and with next to no mileage on a track he had not competed on, he was not surprisingly well down the order.

The Monaco Feature Race, to be run over 42 laps, takes place on Friday at 11:30 local time (GMT +2).

2017 FIA Formula 2 Championship Race of Monaco – Qualifying Results
	Group A Qualifiers	Team / Entry	Time	Gap	Grid
1.	Alexander Albon	DAMS	1:21.727		1
2.	Artem Markelov	Russian Time	1:21.834	+ 0.107	3
3.	Antonio Fuoco	Charouz Racing System	1:21.948	+ 0.221	5
4.	Santino Ferrucci	Trident Racing	1:22.408	+ 0.681	7
5.	Roberto Merhi	MP Motorsport	1:22.569	+ 0.681	9
6.	Jack Aitken	ART Grand Prix	1:22.597	+ 0.842	11
7.	Sean Gelael	Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing	1:22.654	+ 0.870	13
8.	Lando Norris*	Carlin Motorsport	1:22.663	+ 0.927	18
9.	Roy Nissany	Campos Vexatec Racing	1:23.796	+ 2.069	16
DQ.	Maximilian Günther*	BWT Arden International
	Group B Qualifiers	Team / Entry	Time	Gap	Grid
1.	Nyck de Vries	Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing	1:21.737		2
2.	Sergio Sette Câmara	Carlin Motorsport	1:21.901	+ 0.164	4
3.	Luca Ghiotto	Campos Vexatec Racing	1:22.241	+ 0.504	6
4.	Arjun Maini	Trident Racing	1:22.263	+ 0.526	8
5.	Ralph Boschung	MP Motorsport	1:22.307	+ 0.570	10
6.	Tadasuke Makino	Russian Time	1:22.420	+ 0.683	12
7.	Nirei Fukuzumi	BWT Arden International	1:22.707	+ 0.970	14
8.	Louis Delétraz	Charouz Racing System	1:22.717	+ 0.980	15
9.	George Russell	ART Grand Prix	1:22.977	+ 1.240	17
10.	Nicholas Latifi	DAMS	1:28.605	+ 1.420	19

*Post-Qualifying Penalties:

Lando Norris was awarded a three-place grid penalty for impeding Alexander Albon during qualifying.
Maximilian Günther was stripped of his qualifying times for missing the weighbridge. He will be required to start the Feature Race from the pit lane.

Image via FIA Formula 2 Championship