Correa loses F2 podium in myriad of post-race penalties
Juan Manuel Correa (DAMS) has been stripped of his first Formula 2 podium result since his involvement in the horrific 2019 crash at Spa Francorchamps.
Stewards handed out a string of post-race time penalties for track limits offences during Saturday's sprint race. Drivers were sanctioned with five seconds added to their race time running off the track on four occasions, with a further five seconds being added for a fifth breach.
Only Zane Maloney (Rodin) exceeded this number, as he took his additional time to 15 seconds for six offences, although two of these counts had already been awarded during the race, meaning he only dropped one further position in Saturday evening’s final classification, to P20.
Correa had originally taken the flag in fourth place but, like Kush Maini (Invicta), had benefitted from a pair of in-race penalties suffered by Ritomo Miyata (Rodin), to gain a podium position.
In the final order, Correa was demoted five places down to eighth, one position behind Miyata.
This has promoted championship leader Paul Aron (Hitech) onto the podium.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Prema) also fell five positions through a single five-second penalty, dropping from 10th to 15th.
The hardest hit was Franco Colapinto (MP Motorsport), who had originally followed Antonelli home in 11th but fell seven places to 18th with a 10-second addition to his race time.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Prema Racing.
Photo by: Sam Bagnall / Motorsport Images
Dennis Hauger (MP Motorsport) and Roman Stanek (Trident) also faced 10-second penalties, with the former losing three places to 12th and the latter suffering no consequence after finishing last on the road.
It was the exit of Turn 13 that caused the most problems for drivers, with a run using DRS along the pit straight one of the only overtaking opportunities on the circuit. This meant that drivers were taking risks by carrying as much speed as possible through the penultimate corner in a bid to remain as close as possible to the car ahead.
The situation was not aided by tyres that could hardly last the duration of the race, with Gabriel Bortoleto (Invicta) one driver who pushed too early and subsequently ran out of usable rubber with one lap to go – dropping him out of podium contention.
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