The end of the F2 sprint race in France was full of incidents, and the FIA didn't turn a blind eye: it punished five drivers and made Felipe Drugovich inherit third place after Théo Pourchaire's crash
The FIA carried out a true distribution of punishments in Formula 2 after the end of the sprint race of the French GP, held this Saturday (23). For different reasons, the following drivers were punished: Théo Pourchaire, Jüri Vips, Marcus Armstrong, Enzo Fittipaldi, and Olli Caldwell. Of these, only the latter was not for a racing incident: the Briton had his left rear tire badly fixed after the Campos pit-stop, and the team was ordered to pay a fee of €1,000 for the error.
Théo Pourchaire, who is directly competing for the category title with Brazilian Felipe Drugovich, didn't escape either. The ART Frenchman was punished for forcing Marcus Armstrong's car off the track in a dispute at turn 11 and received a 5s penalty in the final classification of the race, which dropped him to seventh place - thus, 'Drugo' gained a position and entered the podium in third place. In addition, he received a point on his wallet, his first of the season.
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The stewards interpreted that "Pourchaire attempted an overtaking move on the inside at turn 11, but was unable to hold the line, spun and forced Armstrong's car off the track. The 5s punishment, rather than the normal 10s punishment, was for the error being considered minor in impact."
Vips' punishment was for exactly the same reason as Pourchaire's: forcing Armstrong off the track, but this time at turn 15. For the incident with his own teammate, the Hitech driver also received a 5s race qualifying penalty - and a point on his wallet, his third of the 2022 season - dropping to 11th place.
Directly involved in the punishments of Pourchaire and Vips, Armstrong was also framed by the eyes of the FIA. Jüri's Hitech teammate was found guilty of a collision with second-placed Jehan Daruvala at turn 8 and also received a 5s penalty in the final race standings and a point on his wallet, his second of the year. With the decision, he dropped to 14th place.
Finally, Brazilian Enzo Fittipaldi saw his race go up in smoke in a dispute with Roberto Merhi, when he tried to overtake the Spaniard on the outside and got the worst of it - he touched his opponent's car and spun on the track, still being hit hard by Amaury Cordeel soon after.
The Charouz driver was found guilty of the incident with Merhi - who also abandoned shortly afterwards - and will have to pay five penalties on the starting grid for Sunday's race, the second of the weekend at Paul Ricard. As a result, he will start 19th in the second race of the weekend. In addition, he received two points on his license, bringing his season total to four.