Armstrong claims F2 podium, top five for Lawson

Marcus Armstrong maintained his starting position in the second Formula 2 sprint race at Silverstone to finish P2 and earn his first podium of the year.

The Kiwi started on the front row courtesy of a top ten reversal of race one’s finishing results.

When he could not make a move on poleman Richard Verschoor in the opening few laps, Armstrong settled into his own rhythm and eased home to claim his best result of the season.

It is also his first return to the rostrum since round two in Austria last year.

“It feels great to return to the podium,” he said.

“It has been a long time coming.”

Armstrong was rarely challenged from behind for most of the race despite seeing off two safety car restarts in the opening few laps.

Liam Lawson started fourth and finished fifth.

Prema’s Oscar Piastri managed to get ahead of the young New Zealander as in the first race. Though this time, the move came at Brooklands.

Once Piastri was ahead, Lawson couldn’t muster the pace to fight back. He settled to take fifth and another decent bag of championship points.

This weekend, there is one more F2 race, which will be the longer feature race that includes a compulsory pitstop and rewards drivers with more points.

Lawson starts 11th for that race, with Armstrong a few spots back in 14th.

The feature race begins at 9.50 pm NZT.