Doohan edges out Vips for Barcelona F2 pole position

It was Jehan Daruvala who led the timesheets in the early stages with his impressive effort putting him nearly 0.3s clear of the rest of the field.

Daruvala decided to sit in the pit lane for the final round of pit stops - reminiscent of Sebastian Vettel in his prime back in 2013 - to see if he could secure pole position without using a second set of tyres.

It wasn't enough for the Indian driver as he was first beaten by Doohan and then Mercedes-backed driver Frederik Vesti.

Vesti has endured a miserable season so far but it was a great lap from the ART Grand Prix driver to put himself initially on the front row.

On the back of his Red Bull F1 outing in free practice, Vips left it late in the Hitech to secure second.

The Estonian was 21st after the first runs but left it late to secure second on the grid, just 0.023s off Doohan.

Vesti qualified third ahead of Daruvala, while Williams F1 junior Logan Sargeant was fifth - 0.355s shy.

Ayumu Iwasa was sixth in the lead DAMS ahead of Theo Pourchaire, who complained about being impeded.

Jake Hughes, Calan Williams and Felipe Drugovich rounded out the top 10 in Barcelona.

Boschung ruled out of Spain weekend

Campos driver Ralph Boschung has been forced to sit out of qualifying and the rest of the weekend in Barcelona due to neck pain.

“Unfortunately our driver Ralph Boschung will not be able to participate in this weekend’s round in Barcelona,” Campos stated shortly before qualifying.

“The Swiss driver began to have significant neck pain after round three in Imola. However, he was confident he would be able to race this weekend.

“But after today’s free practice he realised that he could not drive at the best of his abilities and has decided to withdraw from the event and focus on his recovery to try to be 100% for the next round in Monaco.

“Obviously, the team fully supports his decision and wishes him a quick recovery.”

Boschung added: “It’s a very tough moment and difficult to accept, but health is always a priority. I have already set up a recovery plan for the next few days and hopefully I will be able to recover to race in Monaco next weekend.

“I want to thank my team and my sponsors for supporting me fully on the decision and wish my team-mate best of luck this weekend.”

As a result, Campos will run just one car this weekend with Olli Caldwell qualifying 18th.

Click here for the full F2 qualifying results from Barcelona