Armstrong stays the distance

Marcus Armstrong has stayed the distance in FIA Formula 2 at Sochi in Russia, avoiding crashes which took out several of his rivals – some even before the start.

Wild weather forced a delay to the start of the first race of the weekend, with lightning and heavy rain lashing the area.

The mayhem began on the formation lap for race one, with Guanyu Zhou spinning on a drying track and Felipe Drugovich smacking the wall front-on moments later. Neither driver was able to grid up for the race.

The race began in single file, with few daring to step off the dry line. Those who did risked hitting the circuit’s unforgiving concrete walls. Where the previous round at Monza was fast and challenged drivers to effectively manage their tyres for best performance, the narrow confines of Sochi were more about managing grip in adverse conditions.

Safety cars were deployed repeatedly; Armstrong was able to push briefly into the top ten but finished eleventh.

With this weekend’s schedule altered in light of the adverse weather conditions on Saturday morning, Sprint Race 2 will not be held, meaning the F2 field will grid up today for the longer 28 lap 163.7 km feature race.