Sergio Sette Camara was the man to beat on day one in France as the Brazilian followed up an untouchable performance in Free Practice, with pole position in an incident-packed FIA Formula 2 Qualifying. The DAMS driver was undeterred despite two red flags and finished ahead of Renault Junior Guanyu Zhou and a resurgent Jack Aitken.
No sooner had the cars hit the colourful Circuit Paul Ricard were they forced back into the pits, as Louis Deletraz and Guiliano Alesi collided. Sette Camara made no sweat of going quickest upon their return to the track and quickly took his place on top of the pile.
The Brazilian was briefly usurped by a much improved Jack Aitken, but would unlock further pace from his DAMS machine to regain top spot, before the session was red flagged for a second time when Ralph Boschung was forced to retire with mechanical issues.
Championship hopefuls De Vries, Latifi and Luca Ghiotto all attempted a final push when the afternoon resumed, but it was UNI-Virtuosi rookie Zhou who came closest to beating the Brazilian in P1, as a scorching final lap secured him second and his best ever F2 qualifying result.
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