The Hitech driver passed polesitter Logan Sargeant at the start and managed to hold off the quick-running Jehan Daruvala to take his first win of the season.
Williams junior driver Sargeant suffered excess wheel spin on the grid, leaving him to flounder in fifth as he was also swallowed up by Prema team-mates Daruvala and Dennis Hauger, as well as DAMS racer Roy Nissany.
Nissany’s excellent start briefly put him into third position, before reigning FIA Formula 3 champion Hauger cleared him to score his maiden F2 podium, holding position behind Daruvala to the flag.
There was a first lap safety car after David Beckmann, driving in place of an injured Cem Bolukbasi at Charouz, went off at the Tamburello chicane, while Clement Novalak suffered a broken front wing on his MP Motorsport-run car after he was unable to avoid the spinning German.
There were contrasting fortunes for championship leader Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport) and feature race polesitter Juri Vips (Hitech). Drugovich started 12th after a poor qualifying on Friday, but had made it up to seventh by the end of the first lap, while Vips ran wide and dropped to the back of the pack.
As racing resumed on lap five, Armstrong continued to fend off Daruvala and Hauger, the Norwegian seemingly untroubeld by a loose sidepod cover. Further back, Drugovich and Theo Pourchaire (ART) both made it past Ralph Boschung in the battle for sixth, before the Campos Racing driver came to a halt at Turn 1 to prompt a virtual safety car.
The front three had built up a five-second gap to Nissany in fourth place by the halfway point, with the Israeli driver holding off Sargeant and Drugovich. Nissany gradually pulled away from Sargeant, who lost out to Drugovich on the start-finish straight in the closing laps.
Armstrong held firm to take his first win since the first Jeddah sprint race in 2021 by 1.4 seconds over Daruvala, the Kiwi moving up to fifth in the standings as a result and just three points behind Daruvala in…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Autosport.com – All – Stories…