PREMA Racing, Bearman cruise to pole position
PREMA Racing delivered its first pole position of the year as Ollie Bearman laid down a blistering lap with his second set of tyres to take P1 at Jeddah Corniche Circuit, and defend it to the end of the FIA Formula 2 Qualifying at the Saudi venue.
The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy driver made a stellar rebound from the opening round in Bahrain and will now start the Feature Race from Pole. Due to the reverse-grid rules for the Sprint Race, he will take off from the fifth row tomorrow.
Kimi Antonelli also had an impressive qualifying session. The Italian, a Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Junior, completed his second Qualifying session in the series posting a remarkable sixth place. On track, he showcased consistent improvements, also securing a top-5 starting spot for the Sprint Race.
#3 OLLIE BEARMAN
"Great Qualifying, P1, really nice to be back to where we belong. It was such a tough weekend in Bahrain, and a lot of things happened. To come back here and put the car on pole, I'm really really happy. So proud of the team for believing in me and working so hard, and I'm happy to have given them something to show for it. It's only Thursday, but it's a great start to the weekend and we are in the best possible spot for the races now. I will try to finish Race 1 because I didn't get to do it last year through no fault of my own, and that will definitely help me go into Race 2. I would be lying if I didn't say I want to win Race 2. I feel like we can be fast. Really excited to get going."
#4 KIMI ANTONELLI
"It was my first time driving in Jeddah, a really cool track. Overall I'm quite happy with the performance, although I made a mistake in lap 2 with the last set, which has prevented us from being higher in the rankings. Overall, I'm quite happy, the car feels better and we'll see what we can do for tomorrow, but the pace looks much stronger we have the potential."