Richard Verschoor will start a Formula 2 feature race from pole position for the first time after setting the fastest lap around Monaco during Friday qualifying.

By Steven Walton

Verschoor was part of the first group of F2 cars that ran during Monaco’s unique two-group qualifying format. The first 15-minute session featured the drivers with even numbers on their cars. It was an uninterrupted session and Verschoor set the quickest lap ahead of Imola feature race winner, Isack Hadjar.

The second session was stopped after five minutes when Van Amersfoort Racing driver Rafael Villagómez hit the barriers at turn one.

ART driver Victor Martins topped the second session, though his best lap was 0.027s slower than Verschoor’s effort, thus handing pole position to the Trident driver. Martins will line up second for Sunday’s feature race.

Verschoor: ‘I couldn’t really push the car the way I wanted’

After achieving his first pole, Verschoor was visibly elated with the performance.

“I’m happy to show that I can compete with the best.”

He said his car was “not perfect,” but it was in the right window.

“In terms of balance, for me I had quite a bit of understeer, so I couldn’t really push the car the way I wanted,” he told Feeder Series.

“I had the feeling I was always late in many corners … but as I said before, it was in the window so the car was good enough to push,” he said.

“It could have been better, but I’m not complaining.”

Verschoor said his team would look into data after the session to see what could be improved ahead of the weekend’s races.

This weekend marked the first time Verschoor has topped a Formula 2 qualifying session. He has previously started from the front three times in Formula 2, but those were all in reverse-grid races.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency