LUSAIL ANALYSIS: How Aron surged to Pole Position over Bortoleto

It was a comfortable 0.335s advantage in the end, but that doesn’t convey how dominant Paul Aron was in Lusail Qualifying from start to finish.
The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver had been the one to beat in Practice earlier in the day, and he rolled that form on into the all-important Qualifying session, looking comfortably quickest throughout.
But where did Aron gain his time and how did Bortoleto match up to him? We’ve looked at their laps corner by corner and compared how and where the Estonian made the difference.
MAIN STRAIGHT
We start by comparing their speed along the main straight of the Lusail International Circuit. As they start their laps across the start/finish line, Bortoleto is marginally quicker than Aron by half a Km/h. But that advantage is exasperated by the time they reach the speed trap before braking for Turn 1, with the Brazilian 1.9Km/h quicker.
Aron is actually the third slowest driver in the speed trap readings, with Bortoleto right in the middle, ranking 11th of all 22 drivers.
It means heading into the bulk of the first sector, Bortoleto is marginally ahead at this point.
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TURNS 4-5
Bortoleto maintains his early advantage through the opening corners, with both drivers running a similar line through Turns 1, 2 and 3.
Entering Turn 4 though, Bortoleto opens up the corner slightly more than Aron by placing his car on the outside kerbs. However, he doesn’t quite make the apex while the Hitech driver is fully committed through Turns 4 and 5, riding more of the apex at the second right-hander of Turn 5 to gain some time back.
It’s here that Aron overturns that earlier straight-line speed disparity, and he completes Sector 1 with a session-best 35.202, while Bortoleto’s missed apex at Turn 4 leaves him a tenth down, with a personal best 35.331 in comparison.
TURN 6 & 7
Aron runs deep at Turn 7 and is slightly wide for the hairpin onto the short straight towards Turn 7. Bortoleto is able to make the apex this time and he’s gaining on the run to the next corner.
Entering Turn 7 and Aron is still slightly ahead, but a small correction on corner entry loses him more time, while the Invicta Racing driver is tighter to the apex and earns himself some more laptime back.
TURNS 8-11
Through the middle sector, the pair are evenly matched. Aron is able to attack the fast sweep of Turn 9 and bring the car back over to the right for Turn 10 quicker than Bortoleto, who comparatively positions his car wider ahead of turning into the corner.
Aron has another slight correction to make mid-corner, while Bortoleto hugs the apex and stays tighter on corner exit than the Estonian.
As they complete the second sector, Bortoleto sets the fastest segment of the session, gaining back half a tenth on Aron as they go into the ultra-fast final section of the circuit.
TURNS 12-16
It’s full commitment from Aron and he continues to devastate the field in this final section of the Lusail International Circuit.
The triple right-hander that opens the final sector is where the Hitech driver does the damage, staying slightly wide of the apex at Turn 12 and 13 before attacking 14.
Bortoleto is slightly closer to the apexes of Turns 12 and 13 but suffers his own correction turning into 14, further exasperating the difference between the two.
Aron is able to round the long final right to eke out more time over his closest challenger, and it’s a comprehensive lap in the end to give him 0.3s over the field.
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Having been comfortably quickest of anybody in the final sector, Aron finds yet more time on his final effort to all but seal a crucial Pole Position ahead of the Championship leader.
While Bortoleto’s best lap came with a handful of minutes remaining in the session, Aron ran right at the end though to say track evolution was behind the Hitech driver’s advantage would be unfair.
A tremendous final sector stamped his authority on a session that belonged to him from the outset, and it set him on course for Feature Race victory on Sunday to leave himself with a slender chance at the Formula 2 Drivers’ Championship at Yas Marina this weekend.