F2 SAUDI ARABIA: MARTINS CLAIMS MAIDEN POLE FROM BEARMAN
The ART Grand Prix driver put in a brilliant 1m41.326s to lead the field for Sunday's feature race, with Prema driver Bearman in second.
Reigning Formula 3 champion Martins staked his claim to pole early on, with a 1m42.766s, before Arthur Leclerc went quicker for DAMS with a 1m42.629s.
The first red flag came 12 minutes into the session, with Richard Verschoor spinning his Van Amersfoort Racing car at Turn 22 and coming to a stop on track.
Martins recaptured the top spot shortly after with his best time, and despite Bearman improving on his last run, he was unable to beat the Frenchman.
The session was then ended early after Leclerc suffered a mechanical issue and came to a stop at the exit of Turn 22, scuppering the final attempts of several drivers including 2021 F3 champion Dennis Hauger.
Roman Stanek set an early benchmark on the supersoft tyres, which are available for this round, with a 1m44.162s. He was demoted by Jack Doohan and then Ayumu Iwasa, who set a 1m43.474s, before Bearman went quickest.
Martins then went top, with Kush Maini in second as the rookies showed their good form. Leclerc was next to go fastest, before Martins bettered him by 0.5s ahead of the red flag.
Theo Pourchaire, ART Grand Prix
Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Despite traffic as the field emerged after the first red flag, Enzo Fittipaldi was able to move up into third for Rodin Carlin, as Frederik Vesti took the top spot for Prema.
Bearman then claimed the lead, before Martins toppled him to claim his maiden pole on just his second F2 weekend. Bearman had also made an early attempt to claim pole, despite a close brush with the wall, but was 0.2s slower than Martins.
He was sat in third when the first stoppage came, but managed to improve to the front row once action resumed.
The Briton's best time was a 1m42.004s, and was the final time to be clocked before the red flag.
Despite lingering around eighth place for the early stages, 2022 runner-up Theo Pourchaire will line up third for ART, having set a 1m42.071s with five minutes remaining.
Doohan will start fourth for Virtuosi, with DAMS' Ayumu Iwasa in sixth and Frederik Vesti seventh for Prema.
Jak Crawford will start on reverse-grid pole for Saturday's sprint race for Hitech having qualified eighth, ahead of Bahrain sprint race winner Ralph Boschung (Campos) and team-mate Maini.
Both Trident drivers, Clement Novalak and Stanek, were handed five-place grid penalties for the sprint race after stewards found that the team's mechanics failed to hand back both drivers’ set of tyres into parc ferme after qualifying.
Team personnel were also found to have worked on the sets of tyres before handing them in, breaching the Sporting Regulations.
As a result, Novalak will line up 16th, with Stanek in 21st.
F2 Saudi Arabia qualifying results
| 1 | Victor Martins | ART Grand Prix | 11 | 1'41.326 | |
| 2 | Oliver Bearman | Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1'42.070 | 0.744 |
| 3 | Theo Pourchaire | ART Grand Prix | 11 | 1'42.071 | 0.745 |
| 4 | Jack Doohan | Invicta Virtuosi Racing | 10 | 1'42.110 | 0.784 |
| 5 | Jehan Daruvala | MP Motorsport | 9 | 1'42.111 | 0.785 |
| 6 | Ayumu Iwasa | DAMS | 10 | 1'42.120 | 0.794 |
| 7 | Frederik Vesti | Prema Powerteam | 10 | 1'42.295 | 0.969 |
| 8 | Kush Maini | Campos Racing | 9 | 1'42.360 | 1.034 |
| 9 | Ralph Boschung | Campos Racing | 8 | 1'42.497 | 1.171 |
| 10 | Jak Crawford | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 11 | 1'42.553 | 1.227 |
| 11 | Clement Novalak | Trident | 11 | 1'42.576 | 1.250 |
| 12 | Juan Manuel Correa | Van Amersfoort Racing | 11 | 1'42.617 | 1.291 |
| 13 | Arthur Leclerc | DAMS | 9 | 1'42.629 | 1.303 |
| 14 | Enzo Fittipaldi | Rodin Carlin | 11 | 1'42.686 | 1.360 |
| 15 | Dennis Hauger | MP Motorsport | 9 | 1'42.754 | 1.428 |
| 16 | Roman Stanek | Trident | 11 | 1'42.795 | 1.469 |
| 17 | Zane Maloney | Rodin Carlin | 11 | 1'42.819 | 1.493 |
| 18 | Roy Nissany | PHM Racing by Charouz | 10 | 1'42.854 | 1.528 |
| 19 | Isack Hadjar | Hitech Pulse-Eight | 9 | 1'43.079 | 1.753 |
| 20 | Richard Verschoor | Van Amersfoort Racing | 4 | 1'43.385 | 2.059 |
| 21 | Amaury Cordeel | Invicta Virtuosi Racing | 9 | 1'43.736 | 2.410 |
| 22 | Brad Benavides | PHM Racing by Charouz | 10 | 1'45.027 | 3.701 |
| View full results |
