Qualifications – Bahrain: Pierre Gasly ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne

On the occasion of the only GP2 competition weekend outside the F1 calendar, the GP2 series this weekend are alongside the WEC, and the schedule is somewhat altered as the qualifications took place this Thursday.

In this little game, it’s the Frenchman Pierre Gasly who came out on top, after an intense battle during the last ten minutes of the session when the drivers went out for a second wave of attack. Ferrari protégé Raffaele Marciello lit the first fuse by taking the lead, before being overtaken by Stoffel Vandoorne and Pierre Gasly. But the Sauber test driver was not ready to give up as he regained competitiveness rarely seen since the start of the season and once again achieved the best time.

But ultimately, Pierre Gasly, nurtured by Red Bull, managed to get everyone on the same page, with the best performance of the session. The last improvement by the year’s champion was not enough to do better than second.

This weekend was also the occasion for Alexander Rossi’s return to GP2 after his five races with Manor. The American attempted an alternate strategy by staying on track when all his rivals pitted after the first series of fast laps. Although he had the advantage of a completely clear track, he was unable to find the pace, even though he had managed to set the fastest time in the free practice session. He ultimately couldn’t do better than 9th place.