The image was beautiful: a Frenchman on the podium Saturday afternoon at Le Castellet for the Formula 2 sprint race. However, the French driver was deemed responsible for Marcus Armstrong’s crash and was penalized with a 5-second time penalty at the finish.
3rd with a very closely grouped peloton, the penalty is severe and drops the ART rider down to 7th place in the sprint race.
The statement specifies that after watching the available videos, the commissioners believe that car 10 attempted to overtake from the inside at turn 11 but was unable to hold its line and forced car 7 off the track.
The sanction could have been more significant, but without an accident, the commissioners showed leniency. « The usual penalty of 10 seconds was reduced to 5 seconds as it was deemed minor. »
Ironically, Armstrong himself was penalized by 5 seconds for causing an incident with Daruvala. Both drivers also lose 1 point on their license as a result.
