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Bahrain F2: Luca Ghiotto on pole for rebranded Virtuosi team

Luca Ghiotto took pole position for the Bahrain Formula 2 feature race, as DAMS' strategy of running early failed to pay off despite it topping most of the session

The DAMS drivers - Williams junior Nicholas Latifi ahead of McLaren test and development driver Sergio Sette Camara - looked like the team to beat after also locking out the top spots in practice, in the reverse order.

Latifi led before qualifying was halted with just over 18 minutes to go as debutante Callum Ilott crashed his Sauber Junior Team-run car between Turns 7 and 8. He'll now start 18th.

"Oh, I'm such an idiot," Ilott said after hitting the barrier to the left of the entry to Turn 8.

Settle Camara bailed out of a lap just before the stoppage for Ilott as he claimed to be confused by some yellow flags that were double waved and then only single waved.

After the restart, the two DAMS drivers and Renault junior Jack Aitken ran with 10 minutes to go - Aitken splitting the DAMS pair, with Latifi ahead.

But it became clear they had gone too early, and pre-season favourite Nyck de Vries put ART Grand Prix top as the DAMS drivers and Aitken could only watch in the pits after using up their tyres.

De Vries was then jumped by Carlin's Louis Deletraz, who looked like he had pole before Ghiotto made it a perfect return to the team previously known as Russian Time but now rebranded as Virtuosi. He had raced for Campos last year.

It meant the top three were all drivers who have swapped teams, ex-Charouz driver Deletraz starting on the front row ahead of de Vries.

Latin held on for fourth, followed by Ghiotto's replacement at Campos, Aitken, while late surges from Nobuharu Matsushita (Carlin) and Prema's Sean Gelael boosted them ahead of Sette Camara - who tumbled to eighth.

Ralph Boschung - third in practice - sealed ninth for Trident ahead of Ferrari junior Mick Schumacher, who trailed his team-mate Gelael by over three tenths.

Qualifying times

Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1 Luca Ghiotto UNI-Virtuosi 1m40.504s -
2 Louis Deletraz Carlin 1m40.871s 0.367s
3 Nyck de Vries ART Grand Prix 1m40.889s 0.385s
4 Nicholas Latifi DAMS 1m40.964s 0.460s
5 Jack Aitken Campos Racing 1m41.115s 0.611s
6 Nobuharu Matsushita Carlin 1m41.137s 0.633s
7 Sean Gelael Prema Racing 1m41.254s 0.750s
8 Sergio Sette Camara DAMS 1m41.310s 0.806s
9 Ralph Boschung Trident 1m41.505s 1.001s
10 Mick Schumacher Prema Racing 1m41.583s 1.079s
11 Anthoine Hubert BWT Arden 1m41.596s 1.092s
12 Juan Manuel Correa Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 1m41.722s 1.218s
13 Nikita Mazepin ART Grand Prix 1m41.848s 1.344s
14 Jordan King MP Motorsport 1m41.857s 1.353s
15 Giuliano Alesi Trident 1m41.864s 1.360s
16 Dorian Boccolacci Campos Racing 1m41.918s 1.414s
17 Guanyu Zhou UNI-Virtuosi 1m42.123s 1.619s
18 Callum Ilott Sauber Junior Team by Charouz 1m42.280s 1.776s
19 Tatiana Calderon BWT Arden 1m42.810s 2.306s
20 Mahaveer Raghunathan MP Motorsport 1m43.343s 2.839s


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