Helio Castroneves got caught up in his fast lap by Will Power in the first part of qualifying at Mid-Ohio and both were eliminated earlier than expected
Brazilian Helio Castroneves was involved in a controversy during qualifying for the Mid-Ohio GP on Saturday (2). The Meyer Shank driver was hindered in his first fast lap on red tires by Will Power, who was still doing his warm-up lap. The Australian ended up being punished and lost his two best laps.
Both ended up not qualifying for Fast 12. Castroneves will start 15th, while Power will be only 21st on the starting grid. The incident bothered the Brazilian, who went to the Australian for personal satisfaction, and asked for more attention from the driver and from Penske, although he felt sorry for his rival, who had a car to fight for the pole-position in his hands.
"I stopped before to put on the red tires and I think they didn't tell him I was coming on a fast lap, and if you obstruct someone it's an automatic penalty. I was hoping that he would see me and let me pass, because he was obviously fast enough to move forward," explained Helinho.
"I feel bad, but the way he moved the car it was obvious that I had no way to avoid him. It's a shame, because as I said, he was fast enough to be in the top six, no doubt. But rules are rules, you have to look in the rearview mirrors!" complained the Brazilian.
Pato O'Ward showed the strength of McLaren and will start from pole position for the Mid-Ohio GP. The race is scheduled to start at 1:50 pm EST this Sunday (3), with full coverage by GRANDE PRÊMIO.