Trident’s Richard Verschoor narrowly earned his second Formula 2 pole of 2024 in Baku on Friday, beating future Mercedes F1 driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli to the top by just 0.017s. After the session, Verschoor told selected media that he feels ‘like a fish in the water’ at street tracks.

By Steven Walton

Verschoor’s Baku pole is just his second ever in F2 across 46 attempts. He scored his first earlier this season in Monaco, another temporary street track lined with barriers.

Speaking to Feeder Series and selected media at the post-qualifying press conference, Verschoor said he felt “like a fish in the water” at street circuits, a literal translation of the Dutch expression zich voelen als een vis in het water.

“I just like to be on the street tracks and I always like to push the boundaries, and I’m not really afraid of crashing,” he said.

Verschoor said he struggled with grip during F2’s sole practice session earlier on Friday, in which he finished 13th.

“I’m very happy that we managed to have a good [qualifying] session… I’m feeling good on this track, and I hope we have a good race car as well.”

Verschoor qualified just 0.017s ahead of second-placed Andrea Kimi Antonelli of Prema Racing.

This is the second time in F2 that Antonelli has qualified second. He achieved the same qualifying result in Melbourne when Dennis Hauger took pole position.

Baku track ‘dirty’

Verschoor told Feeder Series that the Baku circuit was dirtier this year than last year, when new tarmac was laid around much of the 6.003-kilometre circuit. The dirtier surface meant he had to get back up to speed again on Friday.

“All the reference points I had from last year, they were not there anymore,” he said.

ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins – who qualified third, 0.245s behind Verschoor’s pole time – said “the approach is not the same” given the dirty surface.

“You just go for it,” he said. “At the start, you see how is the grip and then you adapt yourself.”

Martins, who finished practice seventh, said his qualifying laps “were really good”, though he admitted he did not maximise everything on his final lap.

“In FP we were struggling a bit with a few things,” he added. “I think now is a good starting point for the weekend.”

Additional reporting by Tori Turner

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency