Piastri secures Formula 2 pole for Silverstone, points leader Zhou in second

Piastri was the only man to break into the 1m39s bracket, with Zhou two-tenths shy in second place.

Zhou managed to get his time on the board just before qualifying ended prematurely due to Robert Shwartzman stopping out on track after his spin at Stowe. 

Zhou - who tested for the Alpine Formula 1 team in first practice at the Austrian Grand Prix - crossed the line just before the red flag was deployed, ensuring he will share the front row with Piastri in Sunday’s feature race. 

Richard Verschoor was an impressive third in the MP Motorsport, ahead of Carlin’s Dan Ticktum.

Theo Pourchaire qualified fifth in what was another impressive performance from the 17-year-old, who continues to recover from a fractured arm sustained in the last round in Azerbaijan. 

Felipe Drugovich was sixth ahead of Shwartzman and Roy Nissany. Juri Vips and Christian Lundgaard completed the top ten - meaning they will share the front row on the grid in the first sprint race on Saturday morning.

Liam Lawson and Jehan Daruvala will start from 11th and 12th, while Lirim Zendeli was only 13th after spending the first part of qualifying in the garage.

Marcus Armstrong continued to struggle for DAMS in 14th ahead of Ralph Boschung in 15th.

Matteo Nannini is 16th on his return to the series ahead of Matteo Nannini and Bent Viscaal.

David Beckmann, Jack Aitken and Guilherme Samaia completed the top 20 in qualifying at Silverstone.

Click here for the full FIA Formula 2 qualifying results from Silverstone.