Kiwi racers in the thick of battle as FIA F2 arrives in the UK

Back to real race circuits...fantastic!



The cut and thrust of F2 street racing left Kiwis Liam Lawson and Marcus Armstrong adrift as the championship battle develops but both are on the fightback trail.

At a ‘difficult’ Azerbaijan round of the FIA Formula 2 championship Armstrong had his best qualifying performance of the season and took much-needed points in the first race, while Lawson was put into the wall by Australian Oscar Piastri. It was Armstrong’s turn in the second race as he hit the barriers during a battle for fourth; Lawson came back from a start position of 20th to finish seventh.

Then in the final race, Dan Ticktum, Theo Pourchaire and Armstrong tangled at turn 3, forcing Pourchaire into the escape lane and knocking Armstrong out of the second race in a row. Ticktum copped a ten second penalty for the incident. Lawson had started from pole but in the cut and thrust of repeated safety car periods finished sixth.

Now, Marcus Armstrong is looking forward to a return to the fast expanses of the Silverstone circuit this weekend as the fourth round of the 2021 FIA Formula 2 Championship begins.

Racing with the DAMS team, Armstrong (20) fought hard for those points during round three on the streets of Baku in Azerbaijan in early June and is looking for more in the coming three-race weekend.

After two street circuits in a row, Armstrong and the other drivers on the F2 grid are quick to praise the long straights and open nature of the circuit.

Marcus Armstrong first raced at Silverstone three years ago in the FIA Formula Three Championship. The Kiwi has been a member of the Ferrari Driver Academy for four years and is contesting his second season of Formula 2.

There are two sprint races of 123.711 km at Silverstone with a longer feature race covering 29 laps and a distance of 170.839 km. Silverstone is the fourth round - and the only UK round – of the 2021 FIA F2 Championship.

Going into the weekend the weather is fine and warm with humidity at 64 per cent. Humidity and track temperature are key factors in the performance of the Pirelli 18-inch tyres used by the category. The forecast for Saturday and Sunday is for fine weather.

The championship has reached its mid-point and ends at the Yas Marina circuit in the United Arab Emirates on the weekend of December 10-12.

 
#F2 #faster #DAMSracing

Famous all over Europe

http://www.automobilsport.com/race-categories--24/race-categories--24,226321,Marcus-Armstrong-relishes-return-to-British-circuit,news.htm

And in New Zealand:

https://talkmotorsport.co.nz/singleseater/armstrong-keen-on-return-to-silverstone/

 



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