KIWI ARMSTRONG COMMITS TO DAMS FOR 2021 FIA FORMULA 2

New Zealander Marcus Armstrong has confirmed he will race for leading Formula 2 team DAMS this year.

He is the first member of the elite Ferrari Driver Academy to race for the French team.

“I’m very excited to be joining DAMS, it’s been a long time coming as there was a lot of interest in working together last season. Formula 2 is such a competitive championship and with only eight events it’s important to start on the right foot in an experienced team that’s used to winning,” he said.

“DAMS has a massive history, especially in GP2 and F2. In the short time I’ve worked with the team it’s already clear they bring out the best in people and have the resources to give me exactly what I need. We are aiming for the title. We’ve discussed that it’s not in my interest to finish second and they firmly agreed because they have the exact same targets. It is not going to be easy with such fierce competition, but I know when I’m in the right environment with a great team I can really do special things.”

Armstrong moved to Europe from his native New Zealand in 2016, winning the Italian Formula 4 title the following year and finishing runner-up in the ADAC Formula 4 Championship. He then made the move up to FIA Formula 3 in 2019, scoring three wins and becoming vice champion of the series before claiming two podiums in his maiden F2 season in 2020.

DAMS won the F2 teams’ title in 2019 and the French team is one of the most successful in single-seater racing, particularly in F2 and its Formula 1 feeder series predecessors GP2 Series and F3000. Since the current era began in 2017, DAMS drivers have taken 15 wins. In more than 30 years of competition, it has also helped 32 drivers reach F1, including 2021 participants Carlos Sainz, Pierre Gasly and Nicholas Latifi.

The team’s owners, Gregory and Olivier Driot, say they have been following Armstrong’s career and his performance for several years.

“We are glad to finally join forces for this season. It’s going to be an important year for both of us. Looking at Marcus’ track record, it is obviously one of our main targets to challenge for the titles this year. Marcus drove for us in the 2020 post-season test in Bahrain and he gave some great feedback to the engineers. It was good for him to get to know the team ahead of the 2021 campaign, and everything so far has been positive.”

The 2021 FIA Formula 2 season starts at Bahrain’s Sakhir circuit on March 27 and 28. There are three races in each event this year, and eight events in total. All F2 races are at Formula One events.