Trident’s Lirim Zendeli got his fast lap in early to beat off the rain and take his first ever pole position in a wet FIA Formula 3 Qualifying session at Spa-Francorchamps. The German driver’s time was set on the first set of fast laps and was two tenths faster than ART Grand Prix’s Théo Pourchaire. The Frenchman’s teammate Alex Smolyar took third.
Eager to pick up from where he left off in Free Practice, Jack Doohan was the first out onto the track and the first round for a push lap.
The first true laptime was from Zendeli, who set the benchmark at 2:05.598. Only eight more drivers managed to set a fast lap before the session was red flagged after Michael Belov spun off track on his debut and struck the barrier.
Little changed when the cars returned to the circuit. The fast laps poured in, but no one could trouble the top three of Zendeli, Pourchaire and Smolyar, and they headed back into the pits for a freshen up as it started to rain.
The rain changed the entire complexion of the session, making it extremely unlikely that anyone would better Zendeli’s early time. Almost everyone headed back out in an attempt to do so, apart from PREMA who chose to remain in the pits.
The teams swiftly realised that it wouldn’t be possible and returned with six minutes to go. Bent Viscaal and Calan Williams dipped their toes in the water once more in the final minutes, hoping the track had dried enough, but ultimately another push lap would not be possible.
This allowed Zendeli to claim pole, ahead of Pourchaire and Smolyar. Logan Sargeant took fourth, ahead of David Beckmann, Richard Verschoor and Liam Lawson. Oscar Piastri, Frederik Vesti and Alex Peroni completed the top ten.
Zendeli will have the chance to take his first ever F3 victory from pole in Race 1 tomorrow morning at 10.25 am local time.
Qualifying results
1/ Lirim Zendeli Trident 2’05.393
2/ Theo Pourchaire ART Grand Prix 2’05.596
3/ Alexander Smolyar ART Grand Prix 2’05.807
4/ Logan Sargeant Prema Powerteam 2’06.079
5/ David Beckmann Trident 2’06.112
6/ Richard Verschoor MP Motorsport 2’06.144
7/ Liam Lawson HitechGP 2’06.172
8/ Oscar Piastri Prema Powerteam 2’06.206
9/ Frederik Vesti Prema Powerteam 2’06.315
10/ Alexander Peroni Campos Racing 2’06.413
11/ Olli Caldwell Trident 2’06.444
12/ Jake Hughes HWA AG 2’06.468
13/ Jack Doohan HWA AG 2’06.505
14/ Matteo Nannini Jenzer Motorsport 2’06.588
15/ Enzo Fittipaldi HWA AG 2’06.758
16/ Sebastian Fernandez ART Grand Prix 2’06.867
17/ Federico Malvestiti Jenzer Motorsport 2’06.999
18/ Igor Fraga Charouz Racing System 2’07.245
19/ Lukas Dunner MP Motorsport 2’07.504
20/ Andreas Estner Campos Racing 2’07.510
21/ Calan Williams Jenzer Motorsport 2’07.530
22/ David Schumacher Carlin 2’07.698
23/ Clement Novalak Carlin 2’07.972
24/ Roman Staněk Charouz Racing System 2’08.358
25/ Cameron Das Carlin 2’08.553
26/ Alessio Deledda Campos Racing 2’08.767
27/ Pierre-Louis Chovet HitechGP 2’08.981
28/ Bent Viscaal MP Motorsport 2’20.969
29 Dennis Hauger HitechGP
30 Michael Belov Charouz Racing System
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