Marcus Armstrong was not even threatened. Although the New Zealand driver didn't break away from the pack, he calmly controlled the Formula 2 sprint race in Austria
The first race of the Formula 2 weekend in Austria on Saturday afternoon closed out a day that featured sprint races in F1 and F3. In the countryside of Spielberg, the race didn't even have a challenge for the victory in the final part. There was an expectation that Théo Pourchaire would arrive to fight with Marcus Armstrong, but it didn't happen. In the end, it was better for Armstrong, who took the victory.
Armstrong didn't seem to have such a dominant pace and didn't open up much of a gap to the rest of the pack, but Pourchaire just couldn't get close enough to bother him and was only bothered by third-placed Jack Doohan near the end. He was still under investigation for disrespecting the track limits after being called to attention - something that earned Frederik Vesti and Olli Caldwell penalties.
But Armstrong didn't even have to resist, because nobody pulled over. It was the New Zealander's second win of the season, third in F2.
Pourchaire then took the flag in second, and Doohan completed the top-10. Felipe Drugovich was fourth, but if the Frenchman is punished, he still moves up to third. Jüri Vips, Richard Verschoor, Logan Sargeant, and Ayumu Iwasa were in the points, while Enzo Fittipaldi and Dennis Hauger completed the top-10.
GRANDE PRÊMIO follows LIVE and INREAL TIME all the activities of the weekend's Austrian F1 GP. On Sunday, the start of the main F2 race is scheduled for 5:05am (GMT-3).
Check out how the race went:
On the burr of the Formula 1 sprint race, it was time for the opening race of the Formula 2 weekend. Under sunny skies, the activity ended the day at the Spielberg track. Everything was apparently in place for the start when Liam Lawson stopped on the grid and forced another introduction lap. Unlucky for Lawson, who had to start from the pits.
The pole-position under the reverse top-10 order scheme for this sprint race was Marcus Armstrong, who defended well and held the lead. Théo Pourchaire held on to second place. Felipe Drugovich tried to line up overtaking in the middle of the pack and couldn't, but soon a small line left Jüri Vips behind: Jack Doohan was third, with Drugovich fourth and Richard Verschoor fifth.
Enzo Fittipaldi went from outside the top-10 to ninth at the start, but was under heavy pressure from tomorrow's official pole position man Frederik Vesti, who managed to overtake next. Fittipaldi would attack again a little later, forcing Vesti to make a great save.
The first retirement of the race came with Marino Sato, who surrendered his car in the Hitech pits within the first few laps. The duels outside the points zone were good. Calan Williams, Olli Caldwell and Cem Bölükbaşı were fighting for the positions between 14th and 16th, but the Turk went off the track alone with some fault in his car and had to go to the pits to abandon.
Vips passed Verschoor to regain fifth place, while he was already being threatened by Logan Sargeant. Behind them, Ayumu Iwasa, Vesti and Fittipaldi completed the top-10 - the top four remained the same. Then came the punishment: Vesti took 5s for going over the track several times. So, in the cold letter of the law, the Brazilian from Charouz had the ninth place, but was still behind new cars.
In the 12th of 28 laps, another problem for Lawson: after being stopped at the start and having to leave the pit-lane, a lot of smoke in the front part of the car. He initially stopped on the track, but managed to carry the machine into the pit-lane to abandon and avoid a real safety-car: only the VSC was called out.
Pourchaire received a track limit warning: if he continued to disrespect it, he would receive the same punishment as Vesti. Later, however, he would receive another warning, and although Vesti and Caldwell would be punished for this, the stewards announced that they would leave the investigation until after the race.
The last few laps brought no change up there. Armstrong pulled away, while Pourchaire, suffering from tire wear, was threatened by Doohan, but held on to second. Drugovich took fourth place. Not even Sargeant, who attacked Verschoor until the very end, could take sixth place. That's how the race ended after the final laps were stopped due to worn tires at a time when the asphalt temperature was approaching 40°C.
It was Armstrong's second win of the season. In the championship standings, Drugovich remained well ahead of Pourchaire, now with 40 points difference. Armstrong was up to 69 total points and fifth place in F2 behind Drugovich, Pourchaire, Sargeant, and Jehan Daruvala.
F2 2022, Austrian GP, Spielberg, Race 1, Final Result: