Round 8 Post-Race 2 Penalties

Five drivers have been handed penalties following today’s FIA Formula 3 Race 2 in Monza, including Liam Lawson, who loses second place. Bent Viscaal has been disqualified, while Clement Novalak, Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant have all been served with grid drops for Round 9 in Mugello.

Lawson has been given a 10-second time penalty for forcing Lirim Zendeli off track at Turn 1. The Stewards have determined that the Hitech Grand Prix driver did not give the Trident racer the required one-car width of room during an overtake on the first corner of Lap 9.

The Kiwi loses his podium and drops from second to seventh, behind Pierre-Louis Chovet. Theo Pourchaire is promoted to second, with Alex Smolyar inheriting the final podium place – his first in F3. Lawson also loses a place in the Drivers’ Championship, dropping to fourth, below Pourchaire.

Meanwhile, Viscaal, who had finished 11th, has been disqualified from Race 2 after a breach of parc ferme regulations. An MP Motorsport team member, given authorisation only to de-pressure the fuel cell, noticed that Viscaal had forgotten to refit the steering wheel. The team member reattached it to the car without requesting permission from the Technical Delegate.

Novalak has been given a 10s time penalty, which has been converted into a five place grid-drop for Race 1 in Mugello next weekend, for a collision with Michael Belov and Piastri.

The Carlin Buzz driver struck the rear of Piastri at Turn 1, which forced Belov into the gravel trap in his bid to avoid them. The Stewards have determined that Novalak was wholly responsible.

Piastri has also been given a 10s time penalty, which has also been converted into a five place grid-drop for Race 1 in Mugello next weekend. The Stewards found that the PREMA racer had forced David Beckmann off track at Turn 5. The Trident racer suffered damage and retired as a result.

Finally, Sargeant has been handed a three-place grid drop for Race 1 of Round 9 for causing a collision with his Frederik Vesti at Turn 8.

The American attempted to pass his PREMA teammate on the approach to the eighth corner, but misjudged the distance between them once he had gotten ahead, and was not completely clear of Vesti. This resulted in front wing damage for the Dane and a puncture for Sargeant. The Stewards have determined that the American was at fault for this.