Bearman on F2 pole as Doohan bounces back in Spain

Oliver Bearman charged to pole position by less than a tenth of a second in F2 Qualifying in Spain with Jack Doohan set to start third.

The Englishman held just a 0.077s margin over Enzo Fittipaldi at the end of the session.

Berman’s best came in the final moments of the session, stealing top spot away from his Brazilian rival.

Doohan had held provisional pole in the opening moments of the session, bumping Fittipaldi from the position with his 1:24.078s.

Both Prema and MP Motorsport ran their drivers to an alternate strategy.

Typically, teams send their drivers out for an initial flurry before they cycle back to the pits ahead of a second effort in the latter stages.

It was during that lull that Prema and MP Motorsport sent its driers out, Dennis Hauger snagging provisional pole with a 1:23.923s.

Bearman also ventured out at that point to go fourth fastest while Monaco winner Frederik Vesti was only eighth best after his initial effort.

With 10 minutes remaining, the session built towards its climax with Theo Pourchaire rising to the top of the timesheets.

Fittipaldi then improved to a 1:23.623s to put himself back on provisional pole, while Ayumu Iwasa sat second with five minutes to run.

With their final runs, both Bearman and Doohan improved on their personal bests, the former going fastest to take the F2 pole in Spain with the latter a tenth off the outright pace.

That left the Alpine Academy driver third, while Bearman stole pole position from Fittipaldi.

The Red Bull-backed Iwasa will join Doohan on the second row while Pourchaire will start fifth from Hauger, Victor Martins, and Vesti.

Completing the top 10, which is inverted for Saturday’s Sprint race, were Jack Crawford and Amaury Cordeel, who will start from pole tomorrow.

The Formula 2 Sprint race begins at 14:15 local time (22:15 AEST).

Results: Formula 2 Qualifying, Spain