Mihai Marinescu secured his first ever Formula 2 pole position at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza this morning, outpacing his rivals with a time of 1:40.071 in qualifying. The Romanian finished just ahead of Alex Brundle and Ramón Piñeiro, with title rivals Mirko Bortolotti and Christopher Zanella occupying fourth and fifth.
"I'm very happy about it and I'm very pleased that it's happened right here at Monza which is a very special place for me," said Marinescu, who currently sits eighth in the championship standings. "There were a lot of quick laps where I was fastest but also the new tyres made a big difference compared to yesterday's free practice."
Both Bortolotti and Zanella can win the title at Monza, but only the former can seal it this weekend due to his large points advantage. Behind the pair during what was a warm and sunny session, Tobias Hegewald featured next, with Mikkel Mac and Thiemo Storz locking out the fourth row narrowly behind.
Britain’s Jack Clarke placed his car ninth, finding the speed to finish in front of Benjamin Lariche who rounded out a top ten covered by 0.890 seconds.
Race 1 begins at 2pm local time (BST +1)
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| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. |  M. Marinescu | MSV | 01:40.071 | 14 |
| 2. | A. Brundle | MSV | 01:40.239 | 12 |
| 3. | R. Pineiro | MSV | 01:40.295 | 14 |
| 4. | M. Bortolotti | MSV | 01:40.341 | 11 |
| 5. | C. Zanella | MSV | 01:40.346 | 12 |
| 6. | T. Hegewald | MSV | 01:40.642 | 14 |
| 7. | M. Mac | MSV | 01:40.695 | 14 |
| 8. | T. Storz | MSV | 01:40.765 | 15 |
| 9. | J. Clarke | MSV | 01:40.873 | 15 |
| 10. | B. Lariche | MSV | 01:40.961 | 14 |
| Full results | ||||
| Mihai Marinescu | |||
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| More Mihai Marinescu photos | |||
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