Rafael Câmara secured pole position at Silverstone for Round 7 of the Formula 2 Championship, ahead of Alexander Dunne and Kush Maini. Track limits played a significant role throughout the session, with multiple drivers seeing their lap times deleted as they searched for the limit around the circuit.
Track limits chaos ensues
The opening stages of the Formula 2 qualifying session saw several drivers set competitive benchmark laps while trying to manage track limits. Despite multiple timed laps deleted for several drivers, Kush Maini secured an early provisional pole position after both Alexander Dunne and Rafael Câmara got their opening laps deleted.
Track limits continued to pose a challenge as the session progressed, with Dunne and Oliver Goethe both losing additional lap times. However, Dunne quickly bounced back and delivered the fastest lap of the session so far, moving into provisional pole position, while Câmara recovered to third.
As the qualifying session reached the halfway point, Dunne held provisional pole position ahead of Maini and Câmara, despite his earlier setbacks. Further back, Gabriele Mini sat in 12th position, while his title rival Nikola Tsolov was in 8th, setting both drivers in unusual positions.
All or nothing last lap
With 10 minutes left in the session, drivers prepared for the final decisive runs. Dunne couldn’t hold on to the provisional pole as Tsolov and Mini put together their first laps of the second run. Several drivers improved at the same time, as several drivers improved. Ultimately, it was Câmara who secured the provisional pole position with 5 minutes remaining, ahead of Dunne and Maini.
Drivers had one last chance to beat Câmara’s benchmark on what was essentially the last flying lap of the session. However, Tsolov opted to go into the pitlane with 3 minutes to go. Ultimately, no driver attempted to go out for a last lap, and Rafael Câmara claimed his third pole position of the season.
Rafael Câmara will start on the front row at Silverstone on Sunday, ahead of Alexander Dunne and Kush Maini.
