DAMS claimed their first points of the 2021 Formula 2 season in the Feature Race in Bahrain, with Marcus Armstrong taking fifth.
The Ferrari Academy Driver had a difficult Saturday, suffering a technical issue during the first Sprint Race. However, he fought back later that day, climbing from 20th to 10th in the second Sprint Race.
Armstrong started the Feature Race from 13th and fought his way through the field to claim fifth and DAMS’ first points this weekend.
Armstrong said: “The conditions were quite extreme here this weekend, but we were fast, whatever the weather threw at us. We had very positive long-run pace, especially on soft tyres.
“Unfortunately, during the second run in qualifying, we underperformed, so this put us out of position.
“In the first Sprint Race, we had a technical problem; we were down on power from the beginning of the race, and then eventually it just let go.
“In Sprint Race 2, we managed to charge through the field. It was looking very good until the late safety car allowed others to change tyres. A podium could have been possible, but we didn’t have a new set of tyres to put on.
“Finally, in the Feature Race, we had a good strategy, we came through the pack, and we managed our soft tyres very well. The safety car came in one lap too early, and I didn’t have any temperature in my tyres to attack hard, but the important thing is we took home some strong points.”
Roy Nissany got caught up in incidents that weren’t his fault, despite showing good pace early on.
The second Sprint Race saw him lose his front wing and be forced to pit due to an incident in Turn 1.
The Feature Race saw Nissany pushed off the track after contact with PREMA’s Robert Shwartzman, with nothing he could do but retire from the race.
Nissany said: “Not the weekend we expected. Our qualifying was compromised by not being able to record a decent lap on the first set of tyres, and the session was difficult from there on with the red flag.
“Following that, we started from the midfield and tried to limit the damage by making up some places, eventually finishing just outside of the top ten in Sprint Race 1.
“As for the Feature Race, I had a great start and then got hit from behind. It’s not an easy situation, there’s nothing we can do about it, and we just have to accept it.
“I’m looking forward to our test in Barcelona, collecting some more data and moving on to the next round in Monaco. I’m sure we have great potential, and we will show it very soon.”
Despite the incidents, DAMS showed good pace in Bahrain and will want to continue that in Monaco for Round 2 in May.
Will Armstrong or Nissany be able to score DAMS’ first podium of the 2021 Formula 2 season in Monaco?
*Image Credit: Dutch Photo Agency
