In Profile: Marcus Armstrong

Get to know Ferrari Junior Marcus Armstrong a little better following his switch to DAMS for the 2021 campaign. We speak to the man himself to find out his racing memories, favourites circuits and biggest inspirations.

NAME: Marcus Armstrong DATE OF BIRTH: 29/07/2000 NATIONALITY: New Zealand 2021 TEAM: DAMS

FIRST RACING MEMORY

“In New Zealand you have to wait all night for Formula 1 to start. Me and my dad were going to watch it together and I couldn’t sleep. The race was at 1am and I was like four or five years old. I think that it was the Indianapolis Grand Prix in 2005.”

“I was always a Kimi Raikkonen fan, even from the beginning. My dad was a big Michael Schumacher fan and as a kid, I didn’t want to have the same favourite driver as my dad and Kimi had a cool helmet, so he was my favourite.”

RACING STYLE

“I would say that I am quite calculated in many ways. I try to do everything for a reason, and I don't leave much to chance. Everything I do, I have analysed it.”

BIGGEST RACING ACHIEVEMENT

“I have some great memories from back in New Zealand, when I was karting. We would go almost entire seasons without losing any races, which was always cool and we won quite a few national championships.

“In Europe, I won a European Championship round in Sweden in 2015 and that was defiantly one of my highlights. More recently, winning the Italian Formula 4 Championship. I also always like to think about the last Formula 3 race in Sochi in 2019, which was a good one. I basically just hacked through from fifth and won Race 1, that was cool.”

RACING HERO

“Obviously Kimi, like I said, but I have a lot of racing heroes. As much as I am a driver, I am generally just a big racing fan. I always turn up to the track early to watch the F3 sessions, not to see what the track is like, but because I like to watch racing.

“I have always looked up to New Zealanders, especially when I was young and coming up through the ranks. Guys like Mitch Evans, who was in F2 not so long ago. Nick Cassidy, the guys who were around five years older than me. Brendan Hartley was a bit older, but I always followed him as well. Shane van Gisbergen is another.”

FAVOURITE TRACK ON THE F2 CALENDAR

“I would say Mugello, it’s just outrageous. It is close to where I live in Maranello and I have done a lot of laps there in the past. You need to know what you’re doing around Mugello because it’s one of those tracks where you can't really get away with mistakes.”