Difficult session sees Armstrong qualify 12th for opening F2 race

Marcus Armstrong will once again have his work cut out for him in this weekend’s FIA Formula 2 feature race around the Red Bull Ring as the Kiwi could only muster 12^th in a difficult qualifying session for the rookie.

Red Bull junior and Toyota Racing Series Yuki Tsunoda graduate snared his maiden series pole position, heading the entirety of the 30-minute session to edge home Guanyu Zhou by just 0.038s.

Zhou set his best effort on the final lap after having to abandon his previous flyer when he encountered slow-moving traffic.

Callum Ilott qualified in third place for the second successive weekend, just 0.085s adrift of pole position and ahead of Luca Ghiotto.

Jack Aitken, who earlier in the day partook in the opening F1 practice session with Williams, will start fifth in the race tomorrow and will share the third row of the grid with Robert Shwartzman.

A minor crash with the barriers at Turn 7 in the day’s earlier practice session did little to deter Mick Schumacher as the German nestled himself inside the top-10 for most of the session, eventually ending up in ninth.

There is still plenty of potential left in Armstrong as his ART teammate Christian Lundgaard’s best time was strong enough for eighth.

After his round 1 podium, Dan Ticktum had a forgettable session and will line-up tomorrow in 15^th, one spot ahead of his DAMS teammate Sean Gelael.

The opening race for the F2 grid this weekend is scheduled to take place after qualifying for the Styrian Grand Prix with lights out slated for 2.45 am NZT.