Lawson beats Hitech teammate Vips to Baku Formula 2 pole

The Hitech pair were in a league of their own in the middle sector of the lap, which ultimately proved decisive in the battle for pole.

Lawson was fourth after the initial runs, but an impressive final lap allowed him to remain ahead of teammate Vips.

Vips led the way in practice and looked on course to take top spot until a small mistake on his final effort.

It was another strong performance from Oscar Piastri, who continues to be the lead Prema driver over one lap.

Piastri was nearly 0.3s down on Lawson in the middle sector, suggesting Hitech perhaps were running slightly more downforce.

Theo Pourchaire and Dan Ticktum completed the top five in qualifying.

Next up was Marcus Armstrong and Ralph Boschung in sixth and seventh, while points leader Guanyu Zhou was eighth fastest after a late lap propelled him into the top ten.

Jehan Daruvala and Robert Shwartzman completed the top ten, with the pair set to start tomorrow morning’s first sprint race from the front row of the grid.

Roy Nissany will start from the back of the grid having been forced to sit out of qualifying after his heavy shunt in practice.

He will be joined by Marino Sato, who picked up a three-place grid penalty following his crash in practice.

Sato was handed the penalty after the stewards felt he had returned to the pit lane in an unsafe manner.

Click here for the full qualifying results from Azerbaijan.