Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Paul Aron has been disqualified from his podium finish in the Abu Dhabi Formula 2 sprint race and will have to start the feature race from the pitlane.
In post-race checks it was found that the drag reduction system (DRS) actuator on Aron’s Hitech GP car “was found to have been modified to extend the length of the piston by 1 millimetre, allowing a wider opening of the DRS wing”.
In a hearing with the stewards, a representative of Hitech “did not deny that the car was non-compliant” and stated “there was a problem with the DRS actuator during qualifying and the team therefore changed it to a different one from their spare parts”.
They “also claimed not to know why this DRS actuator was modified” but the stewards said “there is a strong presumption that the team was aware of the non- conformity of the part (or at least should have been, if they had exercised due diligence)”.
Adding that “as such an offence can only be committed by a deliberate act to modify the part in question”, the stewards ruled that, in addition to the disqualification, Aron’s car should start Sunday’s feature race from the pits rather than from third on the grid, where he had qualified.
With Zane Maloney skipping the final round to take part in the Formula E season opener in Brazil, Aron was already guaranteed a top-three finish in the standings. He came into the weekend with an outside chance to still win the title, but even his original third-place finish in Saturday’s race was not enough to keep him in contention.
With Aron disqualified, Isack Hadjar is promoted from sixth to fifth in the results, gaining an extra point to be within 4.5 of leader Gabriel Bortoleto going into the final race. Hadjar also gains Aron’s third place on Sunday’s grid, one place behind Bortoleto.
Speaking to media including Formula Scout after the race, Aron said: “I can’t say it was an enjoyable one. I struggled quite clearly compared to these two guys. I was just hanging on. Sometimes it goes like that, but obviously the result now is very enjoyable, and hanging on and bringing the points for myself and the team and another podium. So that’s sometimes how it goes.
“But as long as I’m able to focus fully in the race and not be bothered about all the outside stuff which in the end doesn’t matter. Because I know that the only way I’m gonna be happy is if I feel I took the best out of myself in the race and I think that was the case this race. So in the end, I’m happy and I would say I enjoy the result more than the race itself.”