PIASTRI COMPLETES POLE HATTRICK

Aussie Oscar Piastri has taken his third consecutive pole position in the Formula 2 Championship at Sochi Autodrom.

Piastri will start from the front for Sunday’s Feature Race in Russia, setting a perfect foundation for the 20-year-old to extend his points lead.

The Prema Racing driver surged to the front in his final lap of the session, clocking a 1m 47.465s lap to deny Jehan Daruvala his time in the spotlight.

Carlin driver Daruvala will sit aside Piastri on the front, qualifying just 0.188s slower.

Piastri’s Chinese championship rival Guanyu Zhou threatened to nab a spot on the front row but had to settle for fourth, outpaced by Theo Pourchaire from ART Grand Prix team.

Ralph Boschung showed ample confidence and pace throughout the session and was consequently rewarded with a spot in the top five qualifiers.

Jake Hughes will start from sixth after a disappointing first outing at Monza, 0.608s off the leader.

Piastri’s Prema teammate Robert Shwartzman was seventh fastest, ahead of Kiwi Liam Lawson.

Juri Vips and Dan Ticktum rounded out the top 10, who were all separated by 0.706s.

Subsequently, Ticktum will start the first race from pole due to the reverse-grid format.

Just outside the top 10 was Marcus Armstrong, the Kiwi falling 0.019s shy of earning his place.

Christian Lundgaard qualified in 12th, ahead of Felipe Drugovich and David Beckmann.

Dutch pair Richard Verschoor and Bent Viscaal took 15th and 16th spots on the grid for MP Motorsport and Trident, respectively.

Lirim Zendeli, Roy Nissany, Guilherme Samaia and Marino Sato will have to start from a long way back as they rounded out the spots through to 20th.

Enzo Fittipaldi and Alessio Deledda will occupy the back row of the grid after qualifying 21st and 22nd.

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