Marcus Armstrong wins second consecutive FIA F3 sprint race

Kiwi Marcus Armstrong has won the FIA Formula 3 Sprint Race at Spa-Francorchamps, ahead of Yuki Tsunoda and Robert Shwartzman.

Armstrong held reverse-grid pole after charging through the field in Saturday’s feature race from P19 to P8.

He lead a lights-to-flag victory in a race marred with multiple incidents and an extended safety car period.

Fellow New Zealander Liam Lawson was pushing through the field early in the race before being tipped around by Logan Sargeant, and falling to the rear of the field.

Australian Alex Peroni was up to P19, just in time to witness Finnish driver Simo Laaksonen lose control of his vehicle and bury his vehicle underneath a tyre barrier.

An long safety car period followed as Laaksonen was extricated from the barrier, with early reports indicating the driver is okay.

After the restart, Devlin Defrancesco, who was penalised for contact with Alex Peroni yesterday, collided with Jake Hughes into Les Combes on lap 11.

Teammates Lirim Zendeli and Raoul Hyman also collided on the entry to the chicane four laps later.

The corner proved a key action zone for the F3 sprint race. Yuki Tsunoda had held second since the race start, but was passed by a daring Christian Lundgaard at Les Combes on Lap 15.

Lundgaard came unstuck in the same location on the next lap, missing an upshift and gifting the position back to the Japanese Red Bull junior driver.

At the front, Armstrong was unbeatable, with Tsunoda ultimately finishing in second. Robert Shwartzman pushes past Lundgaard on the last lap to claim the final podium position.

Armstrong dedicated his race victory to Anthoine Hubert.

Alex Peroni finished P15, with Liam Lawson in P19.