Albon claims maiden pole in Silverstone

ART Grand Prix’s Alexander Albon achieved his debut pole in the GP3 category this morning after coming out on top in a very difficult qualifying session which saw mixed conditions. His teammate and Series leader Charles Leclerc posted the second fastest time of the session, but the Monegasque driver will start the race from P7 following a five place grid penalty issued from Spielberg. Trident’s Sandy Stuvik will therefore start from P2 and join Albon in an all Thai front-row later this afternoon.

Dark clouds and cool conditions greeted the paddock for this morning’s thirty minute qualifying session. With a few drops of rain in the air; uncertainty about whether the rain would hammer down meant extra pressure for the drivers to make sure they completed a flying lap.

Campos Racing’s Konstantin Tereschenko was first to set the pace as a few drivers were caught out when the rain started to fall heavier. Nirei Fukuzumi survived a small spin, whilst Trident’s Antonio Fuoco made a short excursion through the gravel. Unfortunately there was a red flag when DAMS’ rookie Kevin Joerg made contact with the barrier at Stowe and his car had to be removed, thus ending the Swiss driver’s session.

At this point Russian Tereschenko sat pretty at the top of the timings. Once the session resumed, Koiranen GP’s Matthew Parry was first to leave the pitlane opting to remain on the slick tyres, whilst some drivers including Jake Hughes, Fuoco and Steijn Schothorst chose the wet Pirelli rubber.

With strategy at the fore, the qualifying session proved a tense affair and though further rain fell, the slick tyre was producing the better results. Parry shot into P1 by 6s, as the times fell further each lap , Leclerc and the Brit swapped the top spot several times before Arden International’s Jack Aitken jumped into provisional pole. Seconds later his teammate Jake Dennis bettered his time to lead an all British one-two.

Ferrari Driver Academy’s Antonio Fuoco found some extra pace to go P1 by two tenths before Hughes lapped 0.001s faster than the Italian. Parry returned to the head of the timesheet with a half a second advantage but his time was deleted due to track limits. Jenzer Motorsport’s new recruit Arjun Maini was impressive to clock the quickest time in the final stages until Albon completed a flier, to lap over 1s faster than his rivals.

There was a second red flag after contact was made between Leclerc and Santino Ferrucci. Damage was done to both cars with the red flag brought out due to the American stopping on track with a puncture, whilst Leclerc limped back to the pitlane. The session resumed with two minutes left on the clock with Albon holding on to enjoy his first pole position and bag the four points on offer. The Thai is now just one point adrift of Leclerc in the title batter. Stuvik produced his best qualifying result in the Series and will line-up in second, ahead of a fantastic debut from the Indian driver Maini who starts third.

Matevos Isaakyan, Hughes, Fuoco, Leclerc (5 place grid penalty), Fukuzumi, Ralph Boschung and Giuliano Alesi will start from the first ten places as Akash Nandy also has a five place grid drop following the Austrian event.

This afternoon’s 20 lap race starts at 16:20 (GMT+1).

Qualifying*

Pos	Driver	Team	Laptime	Laps
1.	Alexander Albon	ART Grand Prix	1:47.348	9
2.	Charles Leclerc*	ART Grand Prix	1:48.098	9
3.	Sandy Stuvik	Trident	1:48.290	10
4.	Arjun Maini	Jenzer Motorsport	1:48.393	12
5.	Matevos Isaakyan	Koiranen GP	1:48.539	13
6.	Jake Hughes	DAMS	1:48.567	13
7.	Antonio Fuoco	Trident	1:48.568	12
8.	Akash Nandy*	Jenzer Motorsport	1:48.658	12
9.	Nirei Fukuzumi	ART Grand Prix	1:48.664	11
10.	Ralph Boschung	Koiranen GP	1:48.674	12
11.	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	1:48.749	12
12.	Matthew Parry	Koiranen GP	1:48.758	14
13.	Jake Dennis	Arden International	1:48.831	11
14.	Jack Aitken	Arden International	1:48.855	11
15.	Alex Palou	Campos Racing	1:49.053	11
16.	Konstantin Tereschenko	Campos Racing	1:49.138	12
17.	Santino Ferrucci	DAMS	1:49.269	12
18.	Steijn Schothorst	Campos Racing	1:49.358	12
19.	Tatiana Calderon	Arden International	1:49.733	11
20.	Nyck de Vries	ART Grand Prix	1:49.934	11
21.	Artur Janosz	Trident	1:50.005	12
.	Kevin Joerg	DAMS	–	1

*Charles Leclerc has a five place grid penalty after Spielberg Race 2

*Akash Nandy also has a five place grid penalty after Spielberg Race 2