Austria – Formula 2: Guanyu Zhou secures the first pole position of the 2020 season
At the end of an eventful qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring circuit, Chinese driver Guanyu Zhou (UNI-Virtuosi) will start this Saturday afternoon (4:40 PM) from the second pole position of his F2 career, ahead of rookie Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport), and Calum Ilott, Zhou's teammate.
The Chinese driver of the UNI-Virtuosi team clocked a time of 1:14.416 this Friday, relegating Felipe Drugovich, a rookie and impressive second in the MP Motorsport car, to four-tenths behind.
In the final seconds of this qualifying session, Louis Delétraz (Charouz Racing System), Jack Aitken (Campos Racing), and Yuki Tsunoda (Carlin) were attempting to complete their laps, displaying purple in their first sectors. But their hopes for pole position were dashed by a yellow flag caused by the off-track excursion of Russian driver Nikita Mazepin (Hitech Grand Prix).
The 21-year-old Chinese driver will attempt this Saturday afternoon (start at 4:40 PM) to claim his first victory in Formula 2 during the feature race. He will have a tough challenge as the competition seems to be present this year. Callum Ilott, Guanyu Zhou’s teammate at UNI-Virtuosi, will start on the second row alongside another rookie, Danish driver Christian Lundgaard from ART Grand Prix. Mick Schumacher will start from 5th place at the wheel of his Trident.
On his side, Giuliano Alesi (BWT HWA Racelab), the sole French representative in F2 this season, will start from the 18th position. This is due to mechanical issues (brake distributor failure) and an erratic off-track excursion in the first part of qualifying.
| Drivers | Teams | Time | |
| 1 | Guanyu Zhou | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:14.416 |
| 2 | Felipe Drugovich | MP Motorsport | 1:14.880 |
| 3 | Callum Ilott | UNI-Virtuosi | 1:14.884 |
| 4 | Christian Lundgaard | ART Grand Prix | 1:14.922 |
| 5 | Mick Schumacher | Prema Racing | 1:14.952 |
| 6 | Jehan Daruvala | Carlin | 1:15.028 |
| 7 | Luca Ghiotto | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:15.044 |
| 8 | Robert Shwartzman | Prema Racing | 1:15.051 |
| 9 | Dan Ticktum | Dams | 1:15.128 |
| 10 | Louis Delétraz | Charouz Racing System | 1:15.151 |
| 11 | Nikita Mazepin | Hitech Grand Prix | 1:15.152 |
| 12 | Yuki Tsunoda | Carlin | 1:15.157 |
| 13 | Marcus Armstrong | ART Grand Prix | 1:15.208 |
| 14 | Jack Aitken | Campos Racing | 1:15.264 |
| 15 | Pedro Piquet | Charouz Racing System | 1:15.376 |
| 16 | Roy Nissany | Trident | 1:15.457 |
| 17 | Sean Gelael | Dams | 1:15.604 |
| 18 | Giuliano Alesi | BWT HWA Racelab | 1:15.688 |
| 19 | Guilherme Samaia | Campos Racing | 1:15.703 |
| 20 | Artem Markelov | BWT HWA Racelab | 1:15.746 |
| 21 | Nobuharu Matsushita | MP Motorsport | 1:15.897 |
| 22 | Marino Sato | Trident | 1:16.011 |
