Armstrong fends off Lawson to take maiden F2 win in Jeddah

Starting from second on the grid, Armstrong got the better start, lunging down the inside of Lawson into Turn 1.

Despite it being incredibly dusty on the left-hand side of the grid, Armstrong got his car slowed down and kept the lead as Lawson tried to get back on track having taken to the run-off at Turn 1.

Armstrong managed the two Safety Car restarts beautifully to maintain the lead ahead of Lawson. 

Lawson tried his best on the final lap to get into the lead, forcing his fellow countryman to go defensive into Turn 27 - the final corner - but Armstrong held firm to take the win. 

Juri Vips returned to the podium with a lonely drive to third, securing his sixth rostrum appearance of the season. 

Vips lost out to Ralph Boschung early on, but the Campos driver’s lack of pace saw him drop like a stone. 

Like Vips, Felipe Drugovich had a lonely race to finish a solid fourth in Jeddah.

Jehan Daruvala finished a superb fifth, pulling off a superb double overtake on Christian Lundgaard and championship leader Oscar Piastri into Turn 27. 

Daruvala finished sixth on track but inherited fifth from Robert Shwartzman after the Prema driver picked up a five-second penalty for gaining an advantage when overtaking ART’s Theo Pourchaire. 

Lundgaard finished seventh after being embroiled in a titanic scrap with Dan Ticktum and Piastri.

Ticktum overtook Piastri into Turn 27 on the final lap, securing the final point and third on the grid for the second sprint race.

Piastri missed out on a points finish but his 40-point championship lead remains intact after main rival Guanyu Zhou failed to score.

Zhou collided with Lundaard on Lap 4 as he tried to go around the outside of the ART driver into the opening sequence of corners. 

Click here for the full FIA Formula 2 results from the first sprint race in Jeddah