The second race of the second Spielberg weekend saw the New Zealand FDA student finish third. Robert Shwartzman and Mick Schumacher were out of luck and Callum Ilott was in the points.
The second round of the FIA Formula 2 championship staged its second race today. The two weeks in Austria went well for the Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) and has given it plenty to work with in terms of planning for the coming rounds. Robert Shwartzman (Prema) leads the classification although the Russian was unlucky in Race-2, retiring right after the start, spinning off at the first corner. But fellow student, Marcus Armstrong (ART Grand Prix) made it to the podium in third place.
Robert. “I was unlucky today and I’m very disappointed for the team as we could have been in the points”, commented Shwartzman. “Unfortunately, I made a mistake at the first corner, accelerating too hard on cold tyres. I tried to catch the spin but it was too late and the engine had cut out. My pace this weekend was exceptional and I thank the team for all their efforts”.
Extinguisher. Later in the race, Shwartzman’s team-mate Mick Schumacher had to pit and retire on lap 14 for a very unusual reason. He had moved up from fifth to third, running really well, when the fire extinguisher went off inside the cockpit.
Classification. Shwartzman leads on 48 points, while FDA driver Callum Ilott (Uni-Virtuosi) is second, having finished fifth in Race-2. The Englishman drove a sensible race bringing home precious points.
Race-2. In the final race in Austria, Armstrong finished on the podium for the FDA, having driven a consistent race to finish third. It means the New Zealander is a solid fourth in the series. Giuliano Alesi (HWA Racelab) had a tough time of it, starting from 18th on the grid. In the end, the 19 year old Frenchman finished 15th.
Hungary. The Formula 2 teams now leave Austria and head for the Hungaroring on the outskirts of Budapest, which next weekend hosts the third round of the season.