PREMA Racing faces up-and-down qualifying in Barcelona
A tight and particularly challenging qualifying session handed PREMA Racing and Kimi Antonelli fifth place at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. In the qualifying session for the Spanish round of the FIA Formula 2 Championship, the pack proved particularly tight, and with the conditions, the drivers had only one lap for each tyre set to make the difference.
Antonelli worked on his car right from Practice, and eventually rounded out the top-5. On the other hand, Bearman could not get the chemistry he needed with the car, which resulted in a 15th place. The Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy racer will be on a recovery path in both races this weekend.
#3 OLLIE BEARMAN
"Tough qualifying session. I struggled a bit with the feeling and the balance of the car, and with only two laps that was difficult. I'm really disappointed because I think we should have been better than that."
#4 KIMI ANTONELLI
"I think overall it was a good session. A really tight one with lots of pressure, especially because having only one lap on each set, you need to be on point straight away. The car improved compared to FP, it was a good step that also led to more confidence in the driving. I'm quite happy about the lap as well, even though I started it a bit too slow to open the gap, and I lost a little in the first sector. I could have probably fought for a better position, but we are still starting from P5 in the Feature Race, and I'm happy because we are moving in the right direction with the car and team. I cannot wait to see what we can do tomorrow."