Merhi, Maki top first Masters qualifying

The 36-car field was split into two for a pair of consecutive half-hour sessions, with the top 10 in each all progressing through to this afternoon's pole position shootout.

Manor Motorsport driver Merhi set the fastest time of the weekend so far in the first session, his 1m31.094s lap enough to suppress Dutch home hero Renger van der Zande (Hitech) into second by just over a tenth.

Finn Mika Maki (Signature) set the pace in the slower but closer second session, with a 1m31.444s best right at the end, to defeat German Christian Vietoris (Mucke), fellow Finn Valtteri Bottas (ART) and British series leader Daniel Ricciardo (Carlin).

Both qualifying sessions were interrupted by red flags as drivers went off desperately trying to avoid being dumped out of the crucial top 10 orders.

The first session was stopped mid-way through, when Samuele Buttarelli (Carlin) continued his miserable day by ending his session in the Mastersbocht gravel.

Defending F3 Master Jules Bianchi (ART) held the top spot heading into the second half, but was bumped down to third as Merhi and van der Zande improved in the final third of the session.

Reigning McLaren Autosport BRDC Award winner Alexander Sims (Mucke) was the quickest Briton in this session, setting the fifth fastest time, two tenths slower than Jean Karl Vernay (Signature), but a tenth better than team-mate Sam Bird.

German F3 championship leader Laurens Vanthoor used a last-gasp lap to make the top 10 and knock out the lone Dallara-Mugen Honda of Italian Daniel Zampieri.

The second session was punctuated by two red flags, as first practice pacesetter Esteban Gutierrez (ART), and then German Marco Wittmann (Mucke), both ended their session in the gravel at the fearsome Schievlak turn.

It looked for a while as if both might have done enough early on to make the cut, but a raft of last-minute improvements bumped them both down to 14th and 15th respectively.

Better times from Atte Mustonen (Motopark), Matteo Chinosi (Prema), Tiago Geronimi (Signature), Henkie Waldschmidt (SG Formula), Carlos Huertas (Double R) and Basil Shaaban (Prema) meant they all survived, while improvements by Max Chlton (Carlin), Walter Grubmuller (Hitech) and Francesco Castellacci (Manor) offered brief hope, but ultimately fell short and they will miss the pole shoot-out.

First qualifying group:

Pos  Driver                Team       Car  Time       Gap
 1.  Roberto Merhi         Manor      D/M  1m31.094s
 2.  Renger van der Zande  Hitech     D/M  1m31.218s  + 0.124s
 3.  Jules Bianchi         ART        D/M  1m31.333s  + 0.239s
 4.  Jean-Karl Vernay      Signature  D/V  1m31.343s  + 0.249s
 5.  Alexander Sims        Mucke      D/M  1m31.580s  + 0.486s
 6.  Sam Bird              Mucke      D/M  1m31.680s  + 0.586s
 7.  Stefano Coletti       Prema      D/M  1m31.858s  + 0.764s
 8.  Adrien Tambay         ART        D/M  1m32.075s  + 0.981s
 9.  Christopher Zanella   Motopark   D/M  1m32.256s  + 1.162s
10.  Laurens Vanthoor      Carlin     D/V  1m32.609s  + 1.515s
11.  Daniel Zampieri       BVM        D/H  1m32.652s  + 1.558s
12.  Daisuke Nakajima      Double R   D/M  1m32.796s  + 1.702s
13.  Andrea Caldarelli     SG         D/M  1m32.800s  + 1.706s
14.  Victor Garcia         Fortec     D/M  1m32.874s  + 1.780s
15.  Henry Arundel         Carlin     D/V  1m33.249s  + 2.155s
16.  Cesar Ramos           Manor      D/M  1m33.308s  + 2.214s
17.  Alexandre Marsoin     SG         D/M  1m33.795s  + 2.701s
18.  Samuele Buttarelli    Carlin     D/V  1m34.111s  + 3.017s

Second qualifying group:

Pos  Driver                 Team       Car  Time       Gap
 1.  Mika Maki              Signature  D/V  1m31.444s
 2.  Christian Vietoris     Mucke      D/M  1m31.522s  + 0.078s
 3.  Valtteri Bottas        ART        D/M  1m31.662s  + 0.218s
 4.  Daniel Ricciardo       Carlin     D/V  1m31.771s  + 0.327s
 5.  Henkie Waldschmidt     SG         D/M  1m32.044s  + 0.600s
 6.  Atte Mustonen          Motopark   D/M  1m32.294s  + 0.850s
 7.  Basil Shaaban          Prema      D/M  1m32.314s  + 0.870s
 8.  Matteo Chinosi         Prema      D/M  1m32.351s  + 0.907s
 9.  Tiago Geronimi         Signature  D/V  1m32.395s  + 0.951s
10.  Carlos Huertas         Double R   D/M  1m32.473s  + 1.029s
11.  Walter Grubmuller      Hitech     D/M  1m32.627s  + 1.183s
12.  Max Chilton            Carlin     D/V  1m32.631s  + 1.187s
13.  Francesco Castellacci  Manor      D/M  1m32.652s  + 1.208s
14.  Esteban Gutierrez      ART        D/M  1m32.687s  + 1.243s
15.  Marco Wittmann         Mucke      D/M  1m32.708s  + 1.264s
16.  Jake Rosenzweig        Carlin     D/V  1m32.811s  + 1.367s
17.  Riki Christodoulou     Fortec     D/M  1m32.909s  + 1.465s
18.  Pedro Nunes            Manor      D/M  1m32.927s  + 1.483s