P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Kush Maini earned his maiden pole position in a dramatic qualifying session for the Formula 2 Feature race in Bahrain
Brand new Formula 2 cars with 10 rookie drivers hit the Sakhir circuit for the season opener. Jak Crawford’s early spin dropped him out of the top 10 in qualifying, briefly triggering a yellow flag. As all eyes focused on Crawford, rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli impressed by claiming P4 in his F2 debut qualifying session. Wesley of Turn 8 and final corner track limits hurt Paul Aron, resulting in a deleted lap time pushing him below the top 10. Isack Hadjar of Campos Racing clinched provisional pole in the first half of qualifying with a 1:42:418s lap time. Enzo Fittipaldi briefly held pole position after a spectacular late lap, only for Zane Maloney to snatch it away in the last moments. Zak O’Sullivan of ART took P4 from his teammate Victor Martins, while Gabriel Bortoleto claimed provisional pole from Fittipaldi. Arjun Maini secured the pole position with a time of 1.41.696s, beating out Martins and Maloney’s attempts to surpass him. Bortoleto’s 1:42:207s lap earned Invicta Racing a 1-2 for the season opener. Prema drivers Antonelli and Oliver Bearman surprisingly finished in the lower ranks, with Bearman in 19th and Antonelli in 18th place. The qualifying session concluded with Crawford’s engine failure, leaving the driver stranded at turn 8 and dropped to 11th place.
