Armstrong aiming for Baku bounce back after ‘average’ Qualifying

Marcus Armstrong was left in a reflective mood after qualifying fourth in Baku, dissatisfied to not be higher up on the grid. While Hitech Grand Prix teammate Jüri Vips claimed pole position, Armstrong said he couldn’t thread together a strong final effort that he felt was well within his and the team’s grasp.

“I feel like I have too much adrenaline and I feel disappointed. The adrenaline is from having been so focused and the disappointment is because I didn’t do a good last lap.”

Having sat on the front row of the grid with what he called an ‘average’ flying lap, Armstrong said he should have been even quicker and was frustrated to not be challenging for the top places. Despite the bitter result for him, the New Zealander believes a recovery is fully possible in both the Sprint and Feature races.

Although his starting grid position was not something he was left happy with, he did admit that the car underneath him was in a sweet spot which may bode well for his Sprint Race tomorrow and for the Feature Race on Sunday.

“We’ll see what we can do. I think the car is really good I must say, considering I didn’t get a good lap in and we’re P4. Even on the first lap I was P2 and I thought my lap was average. I didn’t feel like I was in the zone at all, but we were still up there. The car is good, and I need to take advantage of that in the race.

“I think it’s fitting we’re starting P7 (tomorrow), I’m car number 7, I think it’s going to bring us some good luck. I feel good. This is the sort of track you can win from P7 because there’s so much action. Hopefully there’s not too many Safety Cars, that would be nice. The car is mega and all I need to do is not mess it up.”

READ MORE: QUALIFYING: Vips conquers the streets of Baku with an almighty late charge

During Qualifying, drivers had been vying for ideal track position, but come race day, Armstrong says there will be different challenges to face that could be just as tricky to overcome. A particular hot spot will be the run up to the main straight according to the Hitech driver, with corner exit pivotal to any potential overtake on cars ahead.

Armstrong believes that there could be a few mistakes in the early phase of the Feature Race but spies it as a potential avenue to make gains once the lights go out.

“The last two corners are pretty dodgy, especially when you’ve got a lot of fuel in it with low tyre pressures. Those two corners on the first few laps will be a real difficulty.”