Denmark’s Frederik Vesti (Prema Racing), currently 2nd in the Formula 2 Championship, will start from pole position for the Feature Race (42 laps) at Monaco Grand Prix, Sunday morning at 10:45, after setting the fastest time in his qualifying group on Friday afternoon.

Two French drivers, Théo Pourchaire and Victor Martins (ART GP), last year’s F3 champion, will be serious rivals for Vesti. The championship leader from Grasse set the 2^nd fastest time in Group B qualifying, just 52 thousandths behind Vesti. He will therefore start on the 2^nd row. And Martins, a member of the Alpine Academy, was the fastest in Group A. So he will start on the front row, right next to Vesti.

The Group A half-session was interrupted by Arthur Leclerc’s accident. The Monegasque driver crashed his DAMS single-seater at the Anthony-Noghès bend. As a result, Charles’ brother will have to make do with 10^th place on the grid, the other side being reserved for Group B drivers. In front of him, there will be another Frenchman, rookie Isack Hadjar (Hi Tech), who set the 5^th fastest time in this Group A session.

Another red flag, two minutes from the end, was caused by Indian Jehan Daruvala (MP Motorsport), who went off the track but did not lose his 4^th place. He prevented Jack Doohan, who was very upset when back in the pits, from finishing a fast lap that could have enabled him, perhaps, to overtake Martins at the very end of the session.

Group B then took to the track, with drivers bearing odd race numbers. This included the weekend’s favourite and championship leader Pourchaire, who had remained a little behind during free practice on Thursday.

The duel with Vesti was very lively and, in the end, the Dane clocked a time of 1:21.053 that will allow him to start from pole position on Sunday morning. His second pole position this season. Nobody could do better than him at the end of the session, as a red flag was brought out two minutes from the end when Clément Novalak (Trident) went off the track, without any serious consequences for the driver.

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