Monaco – F2 – Qualifications: Alexander Albon takes pole position

The near future will tell us if this Monégasque leg is a turning point in the Formula 2 season. In any case, Alexander Albon, second in the drivers’ championship, has seized the lion’s share. In the Principality, the Thai national driver has secured the best position on the starting grid, with a time of 1:21.727. For the record, this time is six and a half seconds slower than Marcus Ericsson’s 19th place, the last true reference time during FP1 in Formula 1 (last, Kevin Magnussen did not complete a proper flying lap).

The most important thing in this session, however, is here: facing Albon, the championship leader ended his session in the wall. Coming out of the second part of the Piscine esses, Lando Norris lost big. And quite symbolically: McLaren’s hope was also put under investigation by the stewards… for blocking Albon! The Carlin driver broke his front wing, but his car should be back on track tomorrow for the main race. He will start at the back of the grid, very close to losing the lead in the championship, as he currently has a 13-point lead over Albon (80 points for the first mentioned, 67 points for the second).

However, the DAMS protégé had to wait for long minutes before validating his performance. Alexander Albon was indeed placed in the first group of qualifiers. As has been customary for a few years now, the GP2 field (20 drivers) is divided into two parts, each composed of 10 drivers, randomly distributed. And the 22-year-old young man had a close call, as Nyck de Vries came very close to snatching his position: exactly 10 milliseconds separate the two competitors!

Behind them, Artem Markelov will take third place on the grid. The Russian delivered a great personal performance, this position being his best of the season. Interestingly, the winner of the main race in 2016 made his effort early in the session, taking an extra lap than his teammates to warm up his tires. A winning move as the main driver then had clear track ahead. After crashing during the morning free practice session, Antonio Fuoco (Charouz Racing) secured the fourth position, ahead of Sergio Sette Camara. The Brazilian, on the other hand, crashed towards the end of the qualifying session. In his Carlin car, he hit the barrier in the first corner, before the climb to Sainte-Dévote. Suffering from a hand injury, he immediately went to the medical center for further examinations.

In the third row, we will find Luca Ghiotto (Campos) and Maximilian Günther (Arden): the German driver is also being investigated for missing the weigh-in during the free practice session held in the morning. The two Trident drivers will occupy the fourth row, with Arjun Maini ahead of Santino Ferrucci. All of them will dream of shining this Friday on the occasion of the feature race, which will start at 11:30.

Another qualifying session, another pole position for @alex_albon #F2 pic.twitter.com/fioQWI4F93

— FIA Formula 2 (@FIA_F2) May 24, 2018

From our special envoy in Monaco.