Dutchman Richard Verschoor (Trident) will start from pole position for Sunday’s main Formula 2 race, the curtain-raiser to the 81^st Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix. However, the two French drivers competing in F2 did not disappoint in qualifying on Friday: Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) will be next to him on the front row, and Isack Hadjar (Campos Racing) just behind, on the second row.

Martins and Hadjar had shone in Thursday’s one and only free practice session run on wet tyres. It took just a few thousandths of a second (27 to be precise) for Verschoor to claim pole position, with a best lap of 1:21.283 in Group A. Slightly faster than the Frenchman who clocked a 1:21.310 in Group B, a few minutes later.

Martins will therefore have a great opportunity on Sunday to finally launch his 2024 season, having only managed to score 9 points in eight races. Behind him will be Estonian Paul Aron (HiTech) and Czech Roland Stanek (Trident). A little further back, Briton Oliver Bearman, who has already scored points in F1 (replacing Carlos Sainz at the last minute at Ferrari), will be less well placed, on the 6^th row of the grid.

Hadjar, lying in ambush on the 2^nd row of the grid, just behind Verschoor, will have to keep a close eye on his mirrors with, in order, Argentinian Franco Colapinto, Italian prodigy Andrea ‘Kimi’ Antonelli, backed by Mercedes F1, and two Brazilians, Gabriel Bortoleto and Enzo Fittipaldi, grandson of double World Champion Emerson, in the 7Os.  

This grid is valid for Sunday morning (42 laps, 9.40am), but not for Saturday afternoon’s Sprint Race (30 laps or 45 minutes) where the grid will be reversed for the top ten qualifiers.

After eight races in 2024, the leader of the FIA Formula 2 Championship is Zane Maloney (Rodin Motorsport). He could do no better than 7^th in Group B qualifying. He will therefore start from the 7^th row of the grid on Sunday and will have to put in a great effort to finish on the podium.

Sprint Race Provisional Starting Grid