Alexander Albon took his third successive pole of the season in F2 qualifying in Monaco
London-born driver continues to show incredible one-lap pace
Thursday 24 May 2018 18:29, UK
Alexander Albon made it three successive F2 pole positions after finishing a spilt-qualifying session on top in Monaco.
To avoid traffic issues on the streets of Monte Carlo the F2 drivers are split into two groups, with the odd numbered cars running in Group A and the even numbered cars in Group B.
The fastest time overall, which was Albon, was awarded pole, with the driver second quickest in Albon's group taking third on the grid, the third quickest fifth on the grid and so on.
The top driver in Group B, who was Nyck De Vries, will start second, with the cars in his group filling the even slots on the even side of the grid.
The system does mean that a driver could find themselves starting behind a car they set a quicker time than in Friday's Feature Race.
Just 0.01 seconds separated Albon and De Vries with their quickest times of 1:21.727 and 1:21.737 respectively, showing that one session did not had a significant advantage over the other.
Lando Norris may have challenged for pole and was on course for a lap time around the 1:21.7 mark when he hit the wall exiting the swimming pole section and knocking the wing off his Carlin. The championship leader was due to start 17th, but was penalised by the stewards for impeding Alexander Albon at Turn 14 in the early stages and given a three-place grid penalty. With other penalties around him, Norris will now start 18th.
And it was not a good day for the other British drivers either with Jack Aitken 13th, but promoted to 11th after penalties and George Russell 18th, but promoted to 17th.
Maximilian Gunther was excluded from the session all together after as the Arden driver failed to attend the weighbridge when signalled.
Meanwhile, the other Carlin of Sergio Sette Camara is due to start fourth after finishing second in Group B, but the Brazilian hit the wall at Sainte-Devote at the end of the session and heavily damaged his car. Sette Camara also reported to the team that he thought he had broken his hand.
Friday's F2 Feature Race is live on Sky Sports F1 at 10:25am.
