F2: Red Bull junior Iwasa roars to last-gasp pole in Abu Dhabi qualifying

DAMS’s Ayumu Iwasa left it late to claim his second pole position in a dramatic final qualifying session of 2022 Formula 2 season by 0.036s.

Languishing down in P18, the Red Bull junior and team mate Roy Nissany took full advantage of the early evening track evolution to lock out the front row for the French team in the closing minute of running. The Williams test driver had taken provisional pole momentarily before Iwasa’s best effort of a 1m 36.290s demoted him to second.

F1 EXPLAINED: How does the Super Licence system work – and what does Sargeant need to do to qualify?

Sauber Academy driver Theo Pourchaire looked comfortable around the Yas Marina Circuit, fighting for the top spots throughout on his way to third – as a late yellow flag in Sector 3 denied the drivers any further improvements.

Off the back of his FP1 debut for Aston Martin, F2 Champion Felipe Drugovich claimed fourth in his final weekend in the championship, ahead of Alpine junior Jack Doohan – who had led the way during the first phase prior to a red flag appearance seven minutes in.

In an all-important weekend for Logan Sargeant as he seeks to earn the Super Licence points needed to be promoted to F1 with Williams for 2023, the American qualified sixth.

Dennis Hauger took seventh in his final qualifying session for PREMA Racing before he moves to current Teams’ Championship leaders MP Motorsport next year, ahead of Amaury Cordeel.

Lastly, Red Bull reserve driver Liam Lawson ended up in ninth and will start on the front row for Saturday’s Sprint Race, alongside reverse grid pole-sitter Richard Verschoor when racing gets underway at 1620 local time.

For the full report, head to the official Formula 2 website.