Nyck de Vries’ strong run of form in the second half of the 2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship season has continued, with the McLaren junior driver claiming his second pole position of 2018 for Saturday’s Feature Race at the Sochi Autodrom.
The PREMA Theodore Racing driver, who has already won three races this season including two of the last three Feature Races in Hungary and Belgium, withstood a late challenge from Carlin’s Lando Norris to secure his second pole position by two-tenths of a second.
Championship leader George Russell held provisional pole for much of the session before he was unseated by a late effort from de Vries. To rub further salt in the wound, the Mercedes junior was demoted to third place on the grid in the dying minutes of play by his chief title rival Norris.
Norris, who will graduate to a McLaren Formula 1 drive next year, has suffered from largely indifferent form in qualifying for much of the season that has seen the Englishman overtaken in the points’ standings by Russell. He now trails his compatriot by 22 points, with the four bonus points on offer for pole instead going to de Vries.
The DAMS pairing of Nicholas Latifi and championship outsider Alexander Albon claimed fourth and fifth on the grid, while Luca Ghiotto put his Campos Racing entry into sixth ahead of surprise Monza Feature Race winner Tadasuke Makino, Norris’ teammate Sergio Sette Câmara, Russell’s teammate Jack Aitken, and Maximilian Günther (BWT Arden).
Makino’s Russian Time teammate Artem Markelov had a disastrous qualifying session at his home event and was the slowest of the 20-car field to post a representative time. The Renault academy driver – who, like Norris, has been completely inconsistent in qualifying – will have to rely once again on an aggressive alternate strategy to make headway in Saturday’s Feature Race.
Starting alongside him on the back row of the grid is Trident’s Arjun Maini, who spun off early in the session and was forced to abandon his stalled car.
Saturday’s 28-lap Feature Race gets underway at 16:45 local time (GMT +2).
2018 FIA Formula 2 Championship Race of Russia – Qualifying Results | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Driver | Team / Entry | Time | Gap | |||
1. | Nyck de Vries | ![]() |
Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | ![]() |
1:46.476 | |
2. | Lando Norris | ![]() |
Carlin Motorsport | ![]() |
1:46.696 | + 0.220 |
3. | George Russell | ![]() |
ART Grand Prix | ![]() |
1:46.839 | + 0.363 |
4. | Nicholas Latifi | ![]() |
DAMS | ![]() |
1:46.890 | + 0.414 |
5. | Alexander Albon | ![]() |
DAMS | ![]() |
1:47.039 | + 0.563 |
6. | Luca Ghiotto | ![]() |
Campos Vexatec Racing | ![]() |
1:47.151 | + 0.675 |
7. | Tadasuke Makino | ![]() |
Russian Time | ![]() |
1:47.372 | + 0.896 |
8. | Sergio Sette Câmara | ![]() |
Carlin Motorsport | ![]() |
1:47.384 | + 0.908 |
9. | Jack Aitken | ![]() |
ART Grand Prix | ![]() |
1:47.634 | + 1.158 |
10. | Maximilian Günther | ![]() |
BWT Arden International | ![]() |
1:47.743 | + 1.267 |
11. | Antonio Fuoco | ![]() |
Charouz Racing System | ![]() |
1:47.774 | +1.298 |
12. | Roberto Merhi | ![]() |
Campos Vexatec Racing | ![]() |
1:47.854 | + 1.378 |
13. | Alessio Lorandi | ![]() |
Trident Racing | ![]() |
1:48.006 | + 1.530 |
14. | Louis Delétraz | ![]() |
Charouz Racing System | ![]() |
1:48.105 | + 1.629 |
15. | Sean Gelael | ![]() |
Pertamina Prema Theodore Racing | ![]() |
1:48.154 | + 1.678 |
16. | Niko Kari | ![]() |
MP Motorsport | ![]() |
1:48.206 | + 1.730 |
17. | Nirei Fukuzumi | ![]() |
BWT Arden International | ![]() |
1:48.327 | + 1.851 |
18. | Dorian Boccolacci | ![]() |
MP Motorsport | ![]() |
1:48.491 | + 2.015 |
19. | Artem Markelov | ![]() |
Russian Time | ![]() |
1:48.568 | + 2.092 |
DNQ. | Arjun Maini | ![]() |
Trident Racing | ![]() |
2:14.971 | + 28.495 |
Post-Qualifying Penalties:
- None
Image via FIA Formula 2 Championship
Geoff Burke
Latest posts by Geoff Burke (see all)
- Supercars: McLaughlin closes in on third title - 26 September, 2020
- Supercars: Former team granted Bathurst 1000 wildcard - 22 September, 2020
- Supercars: McLaughlin leads DJRTP 1-2 in Race 3 - 20 September, 2020
- Supercars: Van Gisbergen dominates Race 2 at The Bend - 20 September, 2020
- Supercars: Coulthard wins thriller at The Bend - 19 September, 2020