Hitech GP’s Marcus Armstrong won the FIA Formula 2 sprint race at the Red Bull Ring as track limit infringements continued to play a part.
Armstrong led away from pole at the start and controlled the remainder of the 28-lap encounter to take victory by one second from ART’s Theo Pourchaire.
Both drivers were given final warnings for exceeding track limits, with Pourchaire facing a post-race investigation after going off track for a third time late on while under pressure from Virtuosi’s Jack Doohan.
Trident’s Richard Verschoor lost out in a battle with Doohan at the start, and was then passed by championship leader Felipe Drugovich and Hitech’s Juri Vips, who went on to finish fourth and fifth
Carlin’s Logan Sargeant and DAMS’s Ayuma Iwasa had to settle for seventh and eighth, despite a battle with Verschoor for sixth in the closing stages.
Sunday’s feature race polesitter Frederick Vesti ran ninth, but was handed a 5s penalty for track limits which demoted the ART driver to 12th. Amaury Cordeel and Oli Caldwell also received penalties.
Charouz’s Enzo Fittipaldi and Prema’s Dennis Hauger completed the top 10, the latter having climbed from 15th.
Carlin’s Liam Lawson was due to start one place in front of Hauger, but stalled on the grid and then retired later in the race with a further issue.
Virtuosi’s Marino Sato and F2 returnee Roberto Merhi also failed to finish, the latter deputising for the injured Ralph Boschung at Campos.
Featured image credit: @formula2 official twitter
