Lawson tops Hitech one-two in Baku with first F2 pole

Hitech Grand Prix cemented their place as the team to beat in Baku with a one-two in Qualifying, as Liam Lawson stormed to a first pole position in Formula 2, ahead of teammate Jüri Vips. Lapping at 1:54.217, Lawson finished just over a tenth faster than his fellow Red Bull junior, with Oscar Piastri a further 0.153s back.

Roy Nissany was forced to watch Qualifying from the side-lines after the DAMS driver crashed out of Free Practice. The short turnaround before the start of the session meaning that the team were unable to mend his DAMS in time.

Juri Vips of Estonia and Hitech Grand Prix (8) drives on track during qualifying ahead of Round 3:Baku of the Formula 2 Championship at Baku City Circuit on June 04, 2021 in Baku, Azerbaijan. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)

Vips had to watch on as his teammate took pole, with Lawson shaving his time down to 1:54.217, while the Estonian racer failed to improve, losing four-tenths in the middle sector.

Second fastest in Free Practice, Ralph Boschung finished Qualifying in seventh, ahead of Guanyu Zhou, who was one of the final drivers to return from the pits in the second half of the session.

Finishing 10th overall, Robert Shwartzman will start ahead of Jehan Daruvala in Saturday’s reverse grid Sprint Race 1.

F2 Race 1 Starting Grid

Pos Driver Team Laps Time Gap
1 Liam Lawson HitechGP 12 1m54.217s 0.000s
2 Jüri Vips HitechGP 12 1m54.355s 0.138s
3 Oscar Piastri Prema Powerteam 12 1m54.508s 0.291s
4 Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 12 1m54.639s 0.422s
5 Dan Ticktum Carlin 11 1m54.830s 0.613s
6 Marcus Armstrong DAMS 12 1m54.914s 0.697s
7 Ralph Boschung Campos Racing 11 1m54.962s 0.745s
8 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 12 1m55.112s 0.895s
9 Jehan Daruvala Carlin 11 1m55.122s 0.905s
10 Robert Shwartzman Prema Powerteam 12 1m55.161s 0.944s
11 Felipe Drugovich UNI-Virtuosi 12 1m55.173s 0.956s
12 Christian Lundgaard ART Grand Prix 12 1m55.245s 1.028s
13 David Beckmann Charouz Racing System 12 1m55.336s 1.119s
14 Jack Aitken HWA Racelab 11 1m55.651s 1.434s
15 Bent Viscaal Trident 11 1m55.658s 1.441s
16 Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 11 1m55.988s 1.771s
17 Matteo Nannini Campos Racing 11 1m56.463s 2.246s
18 Lirim Zendeli MP Motorsport 11 1m56.579s 2.362s
19 Marino Sato Trident 12 1m57.539s 3.322s
20 Guilherme Samaia Charouz Racing System 12 1m57.793s 3.576s
21 Alessio Deledda HWA Racelab 12 1m58.264s 4.047s
22 Roy Nissany DAMS 0