The first race of the weekend in Jeddah finally saw Marcus Armstrong take his first success in Formula 2 at the end of a race fragmented by numerous interruptions with Safety Car and Virtual Safety Car.
The DAMS driver laid the foundations for success at the start, when he managed to take first position shortly after the start to overtake poleman Lawson. Rising to the lead, Armstrong simply had to manage it all while keeping a cool head when the Safety Car made its appearance on the track.
The first neutralization took place already on the first lap, when Caldwell completely missed the braking point and then hit Samaia’s car in the rear. The Brazilian went to impact with the wall and then collided with the innocent Sato.
At the restart, which took place on lap 3, there was the twist that could prove decisive for the championship. Guanyu Zhou tried a desperate overtaking against Lundgaard but collided with the ART of the future IndyCar driver ending up in a spin and damaging the front wing.
Zhou is thus relegated to the back of the group and was forced to an unexpected pit stop to then finish in seventeenth position.
The race direction neutralized the race with the Virtual Safety Car and at the restart the group was ordered with the exception of Ticktum. The Carlin Englishman dueled hard with Bent Viscaal and managed to get the better of him after giving up the position to the driver of the Trident following an overtaking beyond the limits of the track.
The second intervention of the Safety Car took place on lap 14 when Théo Pourchaire lost control of his car and crashed violently into the crash barriers at turn 22.
At the restart Armstrong had to check in the mirrors a wild Lawson who tried in every way to mock the compatriot and was able to celebrate his first success in the category.
Lawson had to chew bitter and had to settle for the second step of the podium in front of Juri Vips. The Estonian was the author of an honest race in which he only shone in the early stages when he got the better of a Boschung in black crisis with tires.
Felipe Drugovich touches the podium, but the Brazilian is the only ray of sunshine on a black day for the UNI-Virtuosi team, while fifth place was inherited by Jehan Daruvala after the 5 ” penalty imposed on Shwartzman.
The Russian from Prema overtook Pourchaire going beyond the limits of the track and did not return the position to the Frenchman, thus triggering the decision of the stewards. The intervention of the Safety Car in the final could have completely ruined the Tsar’s race, but Robert was very lucid in pushing to the maximum in the final laps and thus falling back only one position to finish in sixth.
Daruvala enjoyed this unexpected promotion, but the Indian was the author of the best overtaking in the race when he managed to get the better of Piastri and Lundgaard with a single maneuver, earning the standing ovation of the public.
Piastri ran as an accountant. For a good part of the race the Australian occupied tenth place and then broke the delay when Ticktum began to feel the pressure. The championship leader did not lose his temper when it came to waiting for the right moment to overtake Boschung, but at the last corner of the last lap he perhaps approached the trajectory with excessive shyness allowing Ticktum to have better traction and mock him for just 2 tenths.
However, for Piastri, ninth place is not a result to be thrown away. Oscar may not have collected points in the championship, but he hasn’t lost them on Zhou either and this afternoon he will be able to put a serious risk on the title since he will start from the front row next to poleman Viscaal.
#Jeddah #Armstrong #breaks #ice #Race #badly #Zhou