Silverstone European F3: rookie Esteban Ocon nets double pole
Lotus F1 Junior Esteban Ocon took a brace of pole positions in the second qualifying session for this weekend's Formula 3 European Championship opener at Silverstone
The French F3 rookie outpaced his team-mate at the Prema Powerteam squad, Nicholas Latifi, to claim the fastest time by 0.136 seconds.
Ocon also set the best second-fastest time, securing pole for Sunday morning's third race from another of his fellow Prema runners, Ferrari protege Antonio Fuoco.
"This time I managed to put it all together," said 17-year-old Ocon. "I did less mistakes and, although we still have to work for the races, I'm happy for the moment.
"I really want to thank Prema for giving me such a good car and HWA for the Mercedes engine."
Canadian Latifi, on a track where he always goes well, was happy to improve on his first-session performance after set-up changes: "I felt much more comfortable, and this is a track where you need confidence."
Latifi ran into traffic on his second-best lap and dropped to fourth on the grid for race three, while Fuoco starts fourth for the second race.
Third on the grid for both is Tom Blomqvist, who kept up his strong weekend in the Jagonya Ayam arm of the Carlin team after taking pole position earlier for the first race.
Blomqvist's team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi shares the third row for both races with Max Verstappen, the free practice pacesetter, with this duo taking a fifth and a sixth apiece.
Jordan King, Dennis van de Laar, Ed Jones and Mitch Gilbert round out the top 10 on the grid for race two, with their order reshuffled slightly to Jones, van de Laar, Gilbert and King for race three.
Once again the Mucke Motorsport team struggled for pace, with Lucas Auer and Felix Rosenqvist 12th and 13th respectively on the grid for race two, and 11th and 14th for race three.
Race two grid Pos Driver Car Time Gap 1. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.322s 2. Nicholas Latifi Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.460s +0.138s 3. Tom Blomqvist Carlin Dallara-VW 1m51.517s +0.195s 4. Antonio Fuoco Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.536s +0.214s 5. Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin Dallara-VW 1m51.755s +0.433s 6. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m51.808s +0.486s 7. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 1m51.857s +0.535s 8. Dennis van de Laar Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.864s +0.542s 9. Ed Jones Carlin Dallara-VW 1m51.907s +0.585s 10. Mitch Gilbert Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.993s +0.671s 11. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.998s +0.676s 12. Lucas Auer Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.999s +0.677s 13. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.104s +0.782s 14. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m52.116s +0.794s 15. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-NBE 1m52.367s +1.045s 16. Felix Serralles West-Tec Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.393s +1.071s 17. Felipe Guimaraes Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.431s +1.109s 18. Jake Dennis Carlin Dallara-VW 1m52.518s +1.196s 19. Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.533s +1.211s 20. Alexander Toril T-Sport Dallara-NBE 1m52.672s +1.350s 21. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.674s +1.352s 22. Hector Hurst West-Tec Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.689s +1.367s 23. Sean Gelael Carlin Dallara-VW 1m52.746s +1.424s 24. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m52.896s +1.574s 25. Tatiana Calderon Jo Zeller Dallara-Mercedes 1m53.056s +1.734s 26. Michele Beretta EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes 1m53.301s +1.979s Race three grid Pos Driver Car Time Gap 1. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.327s 2. Antonio Fuoco Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.557s +0.230s 3. Tom Blomqvist Carlin Dallara-VW 1m51.577s +0.250s 4. Nicholas Latifi Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.777s +0.450s 5. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m51.810s +0.483s 6. Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin Dallara-VW 1m51.894s +0.567s 7. Ed Jones Carlin Dallara-VW 1m51.982s +0.655s 8. Dennis van de Laar Prema Dallara-Mercedes 1m51.990s +0.663s 9. Mitch Gilbert Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.096s +0.769s 10. Lucas Auer Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.147s +0.820s 11. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 1m52.147s +0.820s 12. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.181s +0.854s 13. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m52.230s +0.903s 14. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.277s +0.950s 15. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-NBE 1m52.375s +1.048s 16. Felix Serralles West-Tec Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.491s +1.164s 17. Jake Dennis Carlin Dallara-VW 1m52.566s +1.239s 18. Hector Hurst West-Tec Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.715s +1.388s 19. Riccardo Agostini EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.757s +1.430s 20. Alexander Toril T-Sport Dallara-NBE 1m52.799s +1.472s 21. Felipe Guimaraes Double R Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.813s +1.486s 22. Sean Gelael Carlin Dallara-VW 1m52.818s +1.491s 23. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Mercedes 1m52.936s +1.609s 24. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 1m53.014s +1.687s 25. Tatiana Calderon Jo Zeller Dallara-Mercedes 1m53.098s +1.771s 26. Michele Beretta EuroInternational Dallara-Mercedes 1m53.383s +2.056s
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