Bahrain – Maini and Bortoleto offer the first line to Invicta, Top 3 for Hadjar

UPDATE: KEPT DISQUALIFIED: READ HERE

• And here is the first nice shot of this 2024 season and we didn't have to wait too long. Kush Maini was the strong man in these qualifications by signing his first pole position in Formula 2, he who is competing in a second campaign.
• The Indian, freshly recruited by Alpine and moved to Invicta after an encouraging 2023 year for Campos, confirmed his rise to power. While everyone was fighting for hundredths of a second, Kush Maini set a lap in 1'41 which allowed him to gain more than 696 tenths of a margin over the rest of the peloton. Unsurprisingly, no one managed to approach him. With his teammate Gabriel Bortoleto in 2^e position, Invicta Racing secured the front row of the Main Race (Saturday 11:30 a.m.).
• For Isack Hadjar, the choice to join Campos seems to be paying off. After a mixed first year in F2 with Hitech GP, the Habs are regaining color as evidenced by their 3^e time in these qualifications, after having dominated the ranking for a time. The protégé of Red Bull now has a great opportunity to make an impression at the first meeting of the year.

Martins at the bottom of the Top 10, the Prema far behind

• This first qualifying session with the new car created a few surprises, shaking up the hierarchy. Very fast last year on this track where he set the 2nd time behind his teammate Theo Pourchaire, Victor Martins (ART Grand Prix) was delicate this Thursday. Never close to the battle for pole position, the member of theAlpine Academy was discreet with the 9th time under the checkerboard. This still gives him a second position on the reverse grid for the Sprint Race just behind Taylor Barnard (PHM AIX Racing), 10th this Thursday. But it is not certain that he is satisfied with it.
• As for the Prema, the difficulties seen during the pre-season tests were confirmed in qualifying. Already behind and with some technical problems during free practice a few hours earlier, the Italian team's cars never showed up. The gap with the leading group is even obvious since Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman only finished 18th and 19th, 9 tenths and 1 second respectively from pole position.
• See you this Friday at 15:15 p.m. for the Sprint Race.

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