Dennis Hauger claimed the first pole position of the season in qualifying ahead of Sunday’s F3 Feature Race in Spain

The Red Bull Academy Driver will line up on pole position in the weekend’s final race on Sunday alongside Jack Doohan and debutant Victor Martins.

The Norwegian driver snatched away four points from Jack Doohan, who had led the majority of qualifying. Alpine’s Academy driver Victor Martins was a late surprise as he opted to set his lap in the dying embers of the session when the track was at its quietest.

In fourth was Matteo Nannini as he was relegated from the top three in the final stages of qualifying. Mercedes Junior driver Frederik Vesti was in fifth, ahead of the second Prema Racing of Olli Caldwell in sixth.

Looking further down the grid, Clément Novalak was seventh, next to the returning Logan Sargeant in eighth. Ninth was occupied by David Schumacher, while Caio Collet completed the top 10.

Alexander Smolyar will lineup in second for the first race of the weekend as he finished 11th while Jonny Edgar claimed 12th, ensuring he had a clear run in front of him for Race 1.

As It Happened

The drivers poured out of the pit lane for the first time this season as this qualifying session got underway in Spain. The result of qualifying would set the starting order for Sunday’s Feature Race, where the most points are on the line.

Doohan set the early pace for Trident with a 1:33.580, just a matter of hundredths quicker than Nannini and two-tenths quicker than Arthur Leclerc, brother of F1 driver Charles.

As time started to tick, around half of the grid opted to go for three hot-laps throughout the session, which meant that these cars will have to start either the first or second race on used tyres. This proves the importance of qualifying, which can put them in a good situation on race day.

With 13 minutes remaining in the session, drivers came to the end of their second flying laps. Dennis Hauger of Prema Racing improved by nearly eight-tenths as he took pole position away from Doohan for a matter of seconds.

The Australian driver quickly responded re-taking pole position ahead of the drivers’ final laps with a 1:33.091. His teammate Novalak promoted himself into third while Vesti made a big improvement as he slotted into fourth.

With eight minutes remaining in the session, 25 of the 30 F3 drivers took to the track for the final time this qualifying session as they looked to improve upon their current position.

It was Hauger, who was determined to go one better on his final run. He was first of the top trio to set a flying lap and he went straight to pole-position with a 1:32.904, the Norwegian driver was left to wait to see what the rest of the field could manage.

Doohan, who had led the majority of qualifying, had to settle for second best as he failed to beat Hauger on his final lap time. The two drivers were separated by 0.006s when the session was drawn to a close.

While everyone else had their grid slots decided, Martins of MP Motorsport had other ideas as the Alpine Academy driver went from 22nd to third on his final lap.

The Frenchman opted to set his lap at the very end of the session when the track was quiet, this proved to pay off as he found himself only 0.061s off of pole position.

What’s Next?

After Hauger picked up four points for his pole position, he will have to wait until Sunday to see if he can convert it into a win. He will start 12th in race one as we endure two sprint races before the main event on Sunday.

It is Edgar who steps into pole position for the first race of the Formula 3 season as he claimed 12th position, next to him will be Russian driver Smolyar.

Saturday is poised to bring a lot of excitement as a whole host of rookies will endure their first F3 race, and as the race progresses they will gain valuable experience. One challenge they will be faced with is nursing the Pirelli tyres, this can be a major hurdle for rookie drivers.

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