Austria – Armstrong calm winner of the Sprint, Pourchaire on the podium

It was not the most difficult race that Marcus Armstrong (Hitech GP) experienced in Austria this Saturday. Powered to pole position thanks to the Sprint's reverse grid system, the New Zealander mastered his subject to win the first race of the weekend on the Red Bull ring.

Well off to a good start when the lights went out, Marcus Armstrong perfectly negotiated the first corner from which he came out in the lead while his comrades bickered behind him. A perfect situation for the Kiwi who was quickly able to open up a gap in the first laps of the race. At a very good pace, the former member of the Ferrari Driver Academy then left nothing to chance in its path.

Si Theo Pourchaire got closer to second and therefore the DRS, Marcus Armstrong showed solidity during the second part of the race to prevent his rival from catching up on him. With a very clean drive, the New Zealander escaped the investigations of the race management who had a lot of work with the track limits with many drivers penalized, like Frederik Vesti (ART Grand Prix) who was pushed back outside the points after a 5-second penalty, to take off.

Despite a comeback from Théo Pourchaire at the end of the race after poor management of a double yellow flag in the first sector which cost him time, Marcus Armstrong did not give in to win his 3rd victory in F2, its first since Imola last April.

Pourchaire was hot

After trying to hold on to Marcus Armstrong in front of him, Théo Pourchaire had a difficult end to the race, particularly because of Jack Doohan (Virtuosi). So calm in 2nd, the Habs saw the Australian return to contact in the last laps. Under threat from his counterpart and under pressure with the track limits, crossed several times, the ART Grand Prix driver finally held on to secure 2nd place.

However, his numerous adventures beyond the track limits could earn him a penalty since the race management will look into his case after the race. It remains to be seen whether she will decide to sanction Théo Pourchaire by 5 seconds as other drivers may have been or whether she will be lenient.

While waiting for the verdict, this result allows Théo Pourchaire to take 3 points from leader Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport), 4th ahead of Jüri Vips (Hitech GP) this Saturday. The gap still remains significant since the Frenchman is 40 units behind the Brazilian.

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