Now in his third full-time season of racing in the FIA Formula 2 championship, Marcus Armstrong knows that this season is his final chance of a shot for competing in the Formula 1 World Championship.
A former member of the Ferrari Driver Academy, the young Kiwi parted ways with the legendary Italian racing outfit at the start of the season in one final push for the F2 championship.
Currently sitting in sixth place in the drivers’ standings, it is Armstrong’s best campaign to date with a further two race wins in the Imola Sprint Race as well as the more recent Spielberg Sprint Race.
In the post-race press conference, Armstrong spoke of his relief when the chequered flag fell for his second win of the season, “It feels really good and it’s a relief, really. Obviously starting off pole in Austria is never the easiest, especially in F2.”
“Anything can happen and the DRS is strong. So to win this race I needed to have a pace advantage and I pushed hard at the beginning to try and break the DRS. And afterwards, it was quite smooth sailing, I think.”
Heading into the eighth round of the season in Speilberg, Armstrong was very confident in the car that his team, Hitech Grand Prix, had given him from the first lap in Free Practice.
“I was confident before the race to be fair. I think that we did have pace, we always have pace in the races, it seems this car is very strong. Also, on this compound in Free Practice, we were very good as well.”
And he was hoping to take his confidence into the Feature Race on Sunday, “So I knew that we would have pace and tomorrow I think it’s going to be interesting. It won’t be a normal race. By the looks of it, it will be a bit wet. So it’s going to be fun, chaos and catastrophe. I love it.“
Unfortunately, Armstrong was right and there was chaos and catastrophe. He was spun around at turn 3 on the first lap and was forced to retire prematurely from the race.
To add salt to the wound, Armstrong was one of the few drivers who started the race on the slicks which turned out to be the superior strategy for the rapidly drying track meaning he missed out on a very good opportunity for a mega points haul.
In his guest column written for Formula 2, Armstrong spoke about the missed occasion, “I learned just how much a track like the Red Bull Ring can dry up in the space of five minutes. The track changed completely from the reconnaissance laps to the formation lap. It dried incredibly quickly and that was quite a surprise.”
“It was good for us because we took the risk but that was very surprising. A follow up of that – make it through lap one if you’re on the best strategy. Had I made it through Lap 1 of the Feature Race, it’s a possibility I’d have won both races this weekend so it’s a real shame.”
Armstrong’s next chance will come at Circuit Paul Ricard in round nine of the championship which see’s the grid travel to the south of France.
With a week’s break between Spielberg and Le Castellet, the twenty-two drivers should be well rested for another weekend of highly entertaining racing.
