Sargeant Takes Pole in Paul Ricard

Williams Academy driver Logan Sargeant was the man to beat in today’s qualifying session, taking pole position with a 1:43.871.

As it happened

Championship leader Felipe Drugovich led the pack out of the pitlane. Championship rival Theo Pourchaire directly behind.

Drugovich set the first representative lap time of the session with a 1:45.703; however, he was quickly displaced as lap times tumbled. Jack Doohan claimed the top spot with a 1:44.953; Juri Vips slotted into P2 with a 1:44.960. Ayumu Iwasa took the final podium position with a 1:45.191.

Pourchaire temporarily took the top spot at his home race, but he was quickly displaced by Logan Sargeant with a 1:44.599. Despite Doohan setting two purple sectors, he couldn’t quite beat the Carlin driver slotting himself into P2. Iwasa quickly pushed him down, however, into P3 as he set a 1:44.721.

Doohan’s lap time is, however, deleted after a track limit violation at turn 12, pushing him down to P5.

With 15 minutes remaining on the clock, the drivers started to peel into the pits. Trident’s Richard Verschoor tried to take advantage of the track time; however, he was unable to improve from P4.

Clement Novalak led the field out of the break with ten minutes remaining.

Back in the pitlane, Charouz’s Enzo Fittipaldi had to retire from the session, unable to leave the pitlane.

Dennis Hauger brings out the red flags after stopping his PREMA on track once again after being unable to finish the practice session.

Racing Resumes

Racing resumes with just over seven minutes remaining on the clock, Drugovich leading the field out of the pitlane.

Drugovich took the top spot with a 1:44.241; this, however, was short-lived as lap times flurried in. Frederik Vesti took the top spot with a 1:43.983. He was quickly displaced by Iwasa, who topped the timesheets with a 1:43.877.

As the rest of the field battled for track position, Drugovich took advantage of the clear track for another lap; this, however, only improved him into P3. Iwasa failed to cross the line in time to set another lap; however, kept his position.

Vesti was next to cross the line, claiming P2 with a 1:43.900. He was, however, pushed down the field as Logan Sargeant took pole position in a last-minute scramble with a 1:43.871.

The Championship contender sees another two points added to his tally, slowly closing the gap to Drugovich.

Qualifying Classification

The top ten qualified as followed;

1st- Sargeant

2nd- Iwasa

3rd- Vesti

4th- Drugovich

5th- Doohan

6th- Pourchaire

7th- Vips

8th- Armstrong

9th- Lawson

10th- Daruvala

Formula 2 returns tomorrow for round nine’s Sprint Race.

Head Image Credit: Dan Istitene via Getty Images