Armstrong P3, Lawson P5 in F2 qualifying

After a stop-start qualifying, Marcus Armstrong starts third and Liam Lawson fifth for the Formula 2 feature race in Saudi Arabia.

The session was red-flagged on three separate occasions as drivers constantly got caught out by the lurking concrete walls.

One red flag was due to a GPS issue from one of the cars, which triggered the medical car to be deployed.

In any case, the Kiwi pair kept it clean, and Armstrong was on provisional pole with only minutes remaining.

However, a scintillating lap by Felipe Drugovich knocked the Hitech driver off the P1 spot.

Armstrong eventually ended up fourth after all the runs were complete. A penalty for Jack Doohan, who qualified third, elevates Armstrong one spot.

Doohan did not have the required volume of fuel in the car during post-qualifying scrutineering. He starts last for both races this weekend.

Armstrong is under investigation for being released into the path of Doohan during a restart. But no penalty has been announced.

Lawson is the lead Carlin and starts fifth, also a beneficiary of Doohan’s penalty.

Lawson was as high as third before a late flurry of quick times.

The first race of the weekend is a reverse top ten sprint. It means Armstrong starts eighth and Lawson starts sixth.

That race starts at 1.30 am NZT.