Invicta Racing qualified with both cars in the top 10 at the Hungaroring, with Gabriel Bortoleto starting from the second row of Sunday’s Feature Race and Kush Maini from the front row of Saturday’s Sprint Race.
The usual 45-minute practice session and 30-minute qualifying session awaited Kush Maini and Gabriel Bortoleto as track temperatures at the Hungaroring soared for Round 9 of the 2024 FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Although practice was disrupted by a couple of Virtual Safety Car periods, the Invicta Racing drivers were able to get dialled into the circuit accordingly.
Past the halfway point of the session, Gabriel jumped to the top of the times, but a flurry of quick lap times from his competitors meant he dropped to ninth at the flag with a 1:33.512, while Kush was 18th on a 1:33.876.
In qualifying, the Invicta duo were some of the last to leave the pits to set their first laps, and it was a strategy that looked to work well for Gabriel who went fastest of all with a 1:30.269. Kush, meanwhile, was 13th on a 1:31.249.
After a brief red flag period to recover the stricken Pepe Marti, the session was restarted with 19 minutes remaining and it was soon time for the all-important final runs.
With track grip levels at their optimum, lap times tumbled, and Gabriel’s final effort was enough for fourth and the second row of the feature race grid, while Kush improved to finish ninth and the front row of Saturday’s Sprint Race which gets underway at 14:15 CEST.
FREE PRACTICE RESULTS
- Gabriel Bortoleto: P09, 1:33.512
- Kush Maini: P18, 1:33.876
QUALIFYING RESULTS
- Gabriel Bortoleto: P04, 1:30.237
- Kush Maini: P09, 1:30.492
QUOTES
GABRIEL BORTOLETO: “I’m a little disappointed with fourth after such a great first run. I felt like we had the pace for pole today, but the positive is we are in a strong position to start both the Sprint and Feature races.”
KUSH MAINI: “That was a different qualifying session compared to what we’re used to. With it being so spread out and the heat playing a factor as well, you had to make every lap count. Ninth puts us in a great position to fight for the win tomorrow.”
