Paul Aron takes pole position in Formula 2 qualifying in Hungary

Estonian, Hitech rookie Paul Aron took pole position in a warm Budapest Formula 2 qualifying, on Friday afternoon in Hungary.

Aron took pole position with track temperatures at around 50 degrees Celsius and the track condition really challenging the pack.

The Estonian rookie was less than a tenth faster to Van Amersfoort's Enzo Fittipaldi, who qualified second. 0.068s was the gap between the pair.

Championship leader Isack Hadjar qualified third with Richard Verschoor of Trident completing the top 10.

How the Formula 2 qualifying unfolded in Budapest

Time for qualifying for round nine of the Formula 2 championship in 2024 and the first of two final rounds before the summer break. Round nine would take place at the Hunagroring, situated in the capital of Hungary, Budapest.

This would be the second session of the Friday in Formula 2, with championship contender Zane Maloney setting the fastest time in the morning practice session for his Rodin Motorsport team.

Green light would be on after a delayed start and the drivers would head out onto the circuit for some installation laps before starting their first flying laps.

Maloney of the Sauber Academy would start the qualifying session off in the most perfect way and continue his practice form as he would be the first driver to take to the top of the time.

After everyone had set their first laps it was Gabriel Bortoleto who had managed to take to the top of the timing sheets with a delightful lap time from the Brazilian Invicta racer. He set two session best sectors on a lap which was a 1:30.269.

Soon after there would be a red flag which would bring a pause to the session and it would be for the Campos car of Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti. The teammate of championship leader Isack Hadjar, Marti would spin at turn 11 like he did in free practice.

Sadly for Pepe Marti he would not be able to get the car going and would stop on circuit. A distraught Marti would be out of qualifying and take no further part in the session.

Although the red flag stoppage would not be long, there would be little action in terms on track despite green flag conditions being restored.

Drivers heading out on track would be trying to work their tyres into the best possible conditions for the final flying laps in the hunt for pole position.

10 minutes remaining and the drivers would finally head out to build up to their flying laps in a push for pole position.

The first driver to start their final run would be Enzo Fittipaldi of Van Amersfoort racing who would set a new benchmark time in going fastest overall. The time was a 1:30.096 would be the time the others would have to aim for but the drivers behind including Victor Martins, Paul Aron and championship leader Isack Hadjar were all improving on their previous best laps.

Aron would beat it but only just! 0.068 of a second would be the gap that Aron would improve over Fittipaldi's time to take provisional pole for the feature race. He had to wait for his direct championship rival of Isack Hadjar who would only take third fastest. 

Bortoleto could improve but only to fourth fastest but no one could deny Paul Aron of the fastest lap in qualifying and would therefore take the second pole position of his Formula 2 career, beating out Enzo Fittipaldi, who for the third time will start on the front row in a feature race. 

Isack Hadjar taking the third fastest time in the session ahead of Invicta's Gabriel Bortoleto and ART's Victor Martins who completed the top five, with being fourth and fifth respectively.

Dennis Hauger would finish sixth for MP Motorsport, ahead of Andrea Kimi Antonelli who is the only Prema to qualify in the top 10. Zane Maloney could only manage eighth overall ahead of Invicta's Kush Maini in ninth.

Richard Verschoor is to start from the reverse grid pole for the sprint race on Saturday afternoon after qualifying 10th. That will be the next action of the Formula 2 weekend at the Hungaroring, in Budapest for round nine.

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2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship: Round 9 - Hungary qualifying provisional classification

1. Paul Aron (Estonia, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
2. Enzo Fittipaldi (Brazil, Van Amersfoort Racing)
3. Isack Hadjar (France, Campos Racing)
4. Gabriel Bortoleto (Brazil, Invicta Racing)
5. Victor Martins (France, ART Grand Prix)
6. Dennis Hauger (Norway, MP Motorsport)
7. Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Italy, Prema Racing)
8. Zane Maloney (Barbados, Rodin Motorsport)
9. Kush Maini (India, Invicta Racing)
10. Richard Verschoor (Netherlands, Trident)
11. Joshua Durksen (Paraguay, AIX Racing)
12. Franco Colapinto (Argentina, MP Motorsport)
13. Amaury Cordeel (Belgium, Hitech Pulse-Eight)
14. Oliver Bearman (Great Britain, Prema Racing)
15. Zak O'Sullivan (Great Britain, ART Grand Prix)
16. Rafael Villagomez (Mexico, Van Amersfoort Racing)
17. Taylor Barnard (Great Britain, AIX Racing)
18. Ritomo Miyata (Japan, Rodin Motorsport)
19. Juan Manuel Correa (United States, DAMS Lucas Oil)
20. Roman Stanek (Czech Republic, Trident)
21. Josep 'Pepe' Maria Marti (Spain, Campos Racing)
22. Jak Crawford (United States, DAMS Lucas Oil)

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Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal