Ferrari F1 protege Ilott takes maiden GP3 pole, Hubert only 19th
ART Grand Prix driver Callum Ilott sealed his first-ever GP3 pole position in a tight qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring, pipping teammate Jake Hughes.
Ilott, who recorded a breakthrough win in the series with a commanding drive in the second GP3 race in France, set the pace on a 1m19.209s in an ultra-competitive session that saw the entire field of 20 drivers separated by less than a second.
ART Grand Prix driver Callum Ilott sealed his first-ever GP3 pole position in a tight qualifying session at the Red Bull Ring, pipping teammate Jake Hughes.
Ilott, who recorded a breakthrough win in the series with a commanding drive in the second GP3 race in France, set the pace on a 1m19.209s in an ultra-competitive session that saw the entire field of 20 drivers separated by less than a second.
While Ferrari F1 junior Ilott won out in the intra-team ART battle by just 0.037s, fellow teammate and current championship leader Anthoine Hubert provided a major shock as he endured a disastrous session, leaving him on the back-row of the grid alongside series newcomer Devlin DeFrancesco for Saturday’s opening race in Austria.
The Frenchman, who inherited his maiden GP3 victory on home soil at Paul Ricard after Dorian Boccolacci was disqualified for a post-race infringement, had a scrappy run throughout before his ART machine came to a halt in the closing moments, ultimately ensuring pole went to teammate Ilott with the session red-flagged.
Trident’s Alessio Lorandi snatched third place on the grid with a late effort that saw him miss out on pole by just 0.067s, with Barcelona polesitter Leonardi Pulcini set to line-up alongside him from fourth.
Erstwhile pacesetter Nikita Mazepin remains in search of his first-ever single seater pole as he finished with the fifth-quickest time, outpacing Pedro Piquet and MP Motorsport’s Boccolacci.
Ryan Tveter, who topped the timesheets in practice, managed a time good-enough for eighth, as Gabriel Aubry and Giuliano Alesi completed a top 10 split by just 0.3s.
