Armstrong step closer to F1 dream
New Zealand’s Marcus Armstrong will be one step away from Formula One next season, but knows that final jump will be down to him.
The Christchurch-born 19-year-old will be driving for the French ART team in Formula Two next year, getting that seat after an outstanding campaign in Formula Three in 2019 when he finished second in the championship.
Formula Two is the last tier of motorsport to prove yourself before getting into F1 and Armstrong, who is a Ferrari Academy driver, says he’s about to have the most crucial year of his career in 2020, but doesn’t know how long it will take him to become a Formula One driver.
‘‘I couldn’t tell you to be honest,’’ Armstrong said. ‘‘It’s completely down to my results, which is cool.
‘‘Being in Ferrari, in a way if I do the job, there will be an F1 seat for me.
‘‘With that being the case, I need to really knuckle down and try to get the best results I can.
‘‘What my programme is for the following years is just down to me.
‘‘It’s the time to knuckle down and get on with the job.’’
When interviewed by Stuff a few months ago, Armstrong said his goal was to make it into F2 in 2020 and he did so well in the F3 Championship, with three race wins and four other appearances on the podium, that he had a choice of F2 teams to join next year.
He decided to go with ART, because they have been so successful at developing drivers, who’ve gone on to have outstanding Formula One careers.
‘‘The history that ART has had in Formula Two has been quite special,’’ Armstrong said.
‘‘They ran Nico Rosberg to the championship in 2005, Lewis Hamilton in 2006 and they’ve won with Nico Hulkenberg and also Stoffel Vandoorne.
‘‘It’s cool to be with a team that has the history and success stories.
‘‘I feel like I’ll be in really good hands with everyone and everyone there is obviously very experienced. I already have a really good feeling about it.’’
Changing categories will come with challenges for Armstrong next year, but he’s already done some testing with his new team.
Armstrong says there are similarities between an F3 and F2 car and it’s about making the adjustments.
‘‘The car isn’t crazy different,’’ he said. ‘‘It’s about five seconds a lap quicker on a normal race track, which is something, but not massive.
‘‘An F2 car has more horse power and a bit more down force as well, also bigger tyres.
‘‘It’s seemingly more difficult to manage the tyres, because of the high degradation that F2 is providing, which is quite entertaining when you watch on TV, but never easy to manage when you’re driving.’’
Like with all great motor racing drivers, Armstrong believes in his ability. It’s this that has taken him from karting as a young kid, onto the biggest stages in the sport.
He should be in a competitive car next year and is backing himself to have a good campaign.
‘‘If you look at the history, Charles Leclerc and George Russell won the championship in their rookie season and I think it is possible to do well immediately in Formula Two, coming from F3.’’
The first race of the 2020 season is at the Bahrain Grand Prix on March 21.