Photo: Alpine F1 Team
The conclusion of the FIA Formula 3 season has gone from bad to worse for Gabriele Mini, as after losing the title at the last corner has now been disqualified.
Mini had finished second on the road in the Monza feature race, and the Prema driver was on course to become champion until Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli passed ART Grand Prix’s Christian Mansell for third at Parabolica on the final lap and reclaimed the points lead.
Post-race, the tyre pressures on all four corners of Mini’s car were found to be below the minimum level required and so he was removed from the race results. That has not cost him the championship runner-up spot, and the two chief beneficiaries are Mansell – who earns a fifth podium of the season – and AIX Racing’s Joshua Dufek who now scores his first ever point in F3 down in 10th place.
Several other drivers were penalised post-race, and Rodin Motorsport’s Joseph Loake was fined €500 (£420) as he “did not refit his steering wheel after vacating the car in parc ferme”.
Mini’s team-mate Arvid Lindblad, Jenzer Motorsport’s Max Esterson, Hitech GP’s Luke Browning and Campos Racing’s Noah Stromsted all got 10-second penalties, along with three penalty points, for various on-track incidents.
Lindblad had caused a collision with Rodin’s Callum Voisin at turn two, while Browning had collided with Loake at turn eight and the Van Amersfoort Racing pair of Noel Leon and Tommy Smith had been hit by Esterson and Stromsted at turns five and 11 respectively.
Browning and Esterson were penalised 15s in total, since both also got five-second penalties. The former had failed to stay above minimum time during the safety car procedure, while the latter had “failed to negotiate turn four and left the track passing into the run-off area”.
Campos’s Sebastian Montoya was guilty of the same offence, so got the same penalty, and AIX’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak also had five seconds added to his race time as he “failed to negotiate Turn 1 and entered the escape road for the corner”.
Formula 2’s feature race also featured multiple time penalties, and most were applied shortly after the chequered flag.
Campos’s Pepe Marti was penalised 10s and handed two penalty points (bringing his total for the season up to four) for making contact with Hitech’s Paul Aron at turn two on the opening lap, and Rodin’s Ritomo Miyata received the same punishment for his clash with MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger at turn two.