Free Practice-
Enzo Fittipaldi kick started the second half of the season in great form as the Rodin Carlin driver topped the opening practice session in Spielberg. Setting a 1:15.216 before the halfway point, the Red Bull junior remained at the top of the pile throughout.
With track temperatures approaching 40˚C at the Red Bull Ring, Roy Nissany set the initial pace, which put him ahead of Fittipaldi and Maloney by just 0.025s.
The first Red Flag was thrown with 11 minutes left on the clock after Pourchaire spun out a Turn 4. The Frenchman dropped a wheel into the gravel, sending him into a pirouette and he was unable to restart the car.
Green flag conditions resumed with six minutes to go. As the field jostled for track position behind him, Virtuosi Racing’s Amaury Cordeel spun off at Turn 1. With less than four minutes remaining, practice was red flagged once again and did not resume.
Qualifying-
Victor Martins threw down the gauntlet early on in Qualifying around the Red Bull Ring on his way to claim his second Formula 2 pole position of his rookie campaign.
The ART Grand Prix driver led from his first flying lap, improving to a 1:14.643 on his third attempt to retain the top spot. Championship contenders Frederik Vesti and Theo Pourchaire had to settle for second and third.
The full top 10 are: P1: Martins, P2: Vesti, P3: Pourchaire, P4: Maini, P5: Doohan, P6: Fittipaldi, P7: Cordeel, P8: Leclerc, P9: Daruvala and P10: Crawford.
Heading the field out of the pits, Roman Stanek was the first driver to take a turn in the top spot, before Vesti put himself ahead with a 1:15.134.
Meanwhile, Practice pace-setter Fittipaldi looked to continue that form as he moved up into second, before a track limit violation demoted him to the bottom of the timing sheets. But he wasn’t the only one to get caught out by track limits.
After a lengthy stay in the pits, the field immediately scrambled for track position as they headed out with just 11 minutes left.
Vesti tried to wrestle provisional pole away from the Alpine junior but couldn’t quite manage it, ending up a tenth down on Martins.
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