Disaster for Armstrong and Lawson in second F2 race

Hours after finishing 1-2 in the opening Formula 2 race of the weekend in Saudi Arabia, Marcus Armstrong and Liam Lawson had an evening to forget in race two.

Armstrong was taken out in a lap one, turn one melee in which four cars were eliminated.

Lawson crashed by himself late in the race, thumping heavily into the wall.

“I’m okay but have no idea what just happened,” Lawson said over the radio.

“It was a huge snap and the car spun.”

Lawson was tussling away at the lower reaches of the points when he crashed out. He could have even finished one or two places higher, given that Jehan Daruvala and Christian Lundgaard had time penalties.

Armstrong, who earned his maiden F2 win earlier this weekend, was collected by an out-of-control Clement Novalak at the tricky first corner.

Guilherme Samaia and Alessio Deledda also retired in a different crash at the same part of the circuit.

The Saudi Arabian street circuit is proving to be rather difficult for the F2 field. Several accidents meant the race never had much flow as it was constantly disrupted by safety car interventions.

Nonetheless, Oscar Piastri showed overtaking is possible with a well-calculated move on erstwhile leader Daruvala.

Daruvala had already incurred his penalty, but Piastri was quick enough to get the move done on track instead.

Lawson’s accident on lap 18 of 20 meant the race finished behind the safety car.

Piastri won the race and is predicted to clinch the title tomorrow. His nearest championship contender Robert Shwartzman finished third.

Tomorrow’s feature race carries more championship points and a compulsory pitstop.

Armstrong and Lawson start on the fifth row for that race, which begins at 3.25 am NZT.