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Race report

F2 Jeddah: Armstrong holds off Lawson to win, Zhou hits trouble

Marcus Armstrong claimed his first Formula 2 victory in a safety car-interrupted opening sprint race at Saudi Arabia's Jeddah Corniche Circuit, beating poleman and fellow New Zealander Liam Lawson.

Marcus Armstrong, Dams

Marcus Armstrong, Dams

Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

The DAMS driver made the most of a strong launch from the front row to overhaul Lawson at the start and was never headed thereafter, Lawson (Hitech) forced to settle for second ahead of his team-mate Juri Vips.

Although there wasn’t much action in the fight for the win, there plenty of overtaking behind as Jehan Daruvala (Carlin) starred by climbing from 11th to fifth behind Felipe Drugovich.

Fellow UNI-Virtuosi driver Guanyu Zhou was fortunate not to lose further ground in his championship tussle with points leader Oscar Piastri, whose ninth place finish meant he was unable to capitalise on an early spin that dropped Alfa Romeo's 2022 Formula 1 signing to 17th at the flag.

Armstrong made the best start from the front row and muscled ahead of Lawson after the pair squeezed through the first two turns, with Lawson running wide and having to cede the lead.

The field managed to navigate the first two turns unscathed but the clean running only lasted until Turn 4 when debutant Olli Caldwell appeared to make contact with Guilherme Samaia, firing the Brazilian into the inside wall. The out of control Charouz driver then tagged an innocent Marino Sato into a spin, also putting the Trident machine out of the race.

Following a safety car to allow marshals to clear the track, racing resumed on lap four but it wasn’t long until the race had its second incident. Zhou attempted to pass Christian Lundgaard (ART Grand Prix) for sixth down the inside at Turn 1 but the pair made contact that sent the Chinese driver into a spin and a trip to the pits to fix a broken front wing.

Once racing resumed for a second time this time after a virtual safety car, Armstrong led from Lawson, with Ralph Boschung (Campos) third ahead of Vips and Drugovich.

Armstrong surged into the lead at the start as Lawson ran wide

Armstrong surged into the lead at the start as Lawson ran wide

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Lundgaard dropped to eighth following the collision with Zhou, allowing Theo Pourchaire (ART) and Robert Shwartzman (Prema) into sixth and seventh respectively. Shwartzman's team-mate Piastri meanwhile had dropped behind a fast-starting Daruvala, but remained where he started in 10th after Zhou’s demise.

Shwartzman then managed to pass Pourchaire, but did so by running off the track and gaining advantage which ultimately resulted in a five-second penalty.

As the race reached the halfway mark, Vips managed to squeeze by Boschung for third and it wasn’t long before Drugovich demoted the Swiss to fifth.

Boschung continued to struggle for pace as he fell into the clutches of Shwartzman, who dived underneath his rival at the hairpin to re-take the position after Boschung initially looked to have repelled his move.

While the top four remained unchanged to the flag, there was plenty of action behind, but the race was neutralised by the safety car for a second time when seventh-placed Pourchaire found the barriers at Turn 22.

Armstrong came under pressure from from Lawson on the final lap but managed to hang on for the victory, while Daruvala's stunning two-for-one pass on Lundgaard and Piastri late on meant he profited from the penalty for Shwartzman.

The Russian was eventually classified in sixth ahead of Lundgaard, a charging Dan Ticktum (up from 13th) and Piastri.

Bent Viscaal rounded out the top 10 and will start from pole position for the second sprint race, scheduled to start at 21:40 local time (1840 GMT).

F2 Jeddah - Race results (20 laps):

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