Lawson loses podium, Piastri and Sargeant handed Mugello grid-drops in round of FIA F3 penalties
Liam Lawson has lost his second place finish, while rivals Oscar Piastri and Logan Sargeant will take grid-drops into the championship decider at Mugello, after a savage round of FIA Formula 3 post-race penalties.
Liam Lawson has lost his podium at Monza following a round of post-race penalties. (Image: Dutch Photo Agency/Red Bull Content Pool)
Five different drivers were penalised following Race 2 at Monza: Liam Lawson, Bent Viscaal, Clément Novalak, Oscar Piastri, and Logan Sargeant.
The penalties to Piastri, Sargeant, and Lawson will have ramifications on the Driver’s Championship—with the Australian leading his rival by just eight points heading into the final round of the season.
Lawson was given a 10-second time penalty for forcing Lirim Zendeli off track at Turn 1 on Lap 9. Lawson drops from second to seventh in the adjusted order, with Jake Hughes, Theo Pourchaire, and Aleksandr Smolyar making up the new podium—the Russian’s first in FIA F3.
On the adjusted results he also falls behind Pourchaire in the Driver’s Championship, down from third to fourth heading in to the final round at Mugello, the penalty taking his tilt at the Driver’s title from an ‘outside chance’ down to just a ‘mathematical possibility’.
Lawson’s penalty also promoted Aussie Alex Peroni to a fifth-place finish in the race results.
Viscaal, who had finished in P11, was disqualified for a breach of parc ferme regulations.
An MP Motorsport team member, given authorisation only to de-pressure the fuel cell, noticed that Viscaal had forgotten to refit the steering wheel. The team member reattached it to the car without requesting permission from the Technical Delegate.
Novalak was given a 10 second time penalty for his collision with Piastri, which saw the Australian collide with multiple other drivers and retire from the race.
The penalty was converted into a five place grid-drop for Race 1 at Mugello.
Piastri was also given a 10 second time penalty, with the Stewards deeming the Australian had forced David Beckmann off the track at Turn 5. Beckmann suffered damage in the incident and retired from the race.
The penalty was also converted into a five-place grid-drop for Race 1 at Mugello.
Oscar Piastri will face a five-place grid-drop for the final FIA Formula 3 round at Mugello. (Image: Supplied)
“Honestly lost for words.” tweeted the Australian.
What a rollercoaster of a weekend. Very happy with what I did this weekend, I hope I proved what I can do. Still looking for clarity on certain things from this weekend, but we move. Got better things to do, and a championship to be won. Bring it on 👊September 6, 2020
Sargeant was given a three-place grid-drop for Race 1 at Mugello, for his role in the incident that ended the races of both the American and his Danish teammate.
The American was deemed to have cut back in front of Vesti once the overtake was complete.
The resulting collision saw Vesti suffer front wing damage and Vesti a broken front wing, and both drivers retired from the race.
