Following Saturday’s Formula 2 Feature Race at Spa-Francorchamps, post-race penalties have been applied to four drivers.
Nikita Mazepin, Felipe Drugovich, Nobuharu Matsushita and Marcus Armstrong have all received punishments from the race stewards following separate incidents on track.
Mazepin won the Feature Race but was immediately demoted to second place before he could return his Hitech car to the pit lane. The 5s time penalty was applied for forcing Yuki Tsunoda off the track in the final laps of the race.
Strong words from the Hitech driver in the post-race interview:
NIKITA: "I finished third last weekend, I finished first this weekend, no one can take it away from me. I stayed on my racing line and used exactly the same bit of the track as every other lap"#BelgianGP ?? #F2 pic.twitter.com/5QcTvX0P8e
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) August 29, 2020
On returning to parc-ferme, Mazepin, crashed into the second-place marker. It almost struck Tsunoda as he walked over to his team to celebrate the win.
Appearing to react to news of his penalty, the race stewards deemed Mazepin’s actions to be “potentially dangerous and unsportsmanlike conduct.”
This has earned Mazepin a suspended five-place grid drop.
Additionally, Hitech were reprimanded for an unsafe release during Mazepin’s pit stop, though no penalty has been applied.
MP’s Drugovich landed himself in hot water with the race stewards for taking his mandatory pit stop on the final lap of the Formula 2 Feature Race. This breaches: article 37.6 of the sporting regulations.
His punishment was more severe, receiving a disqualification.
The team’s misfortunes continued as Matsushita received a three-place grid drop for Sunday’s Sprint Race at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
The Japanese driver squeezed teammate Drugovich, touching wheels as they headed into Blanchimont. The incident ended his own race and left Drugovich with front-wing damage, pushing the Brazilian down the order.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEe-k8hot4i/?igshid=1vwopm223zx4p
Taking full responsibility, Matsushita humbly apologised:
We both could have strong race but ended bad way… but I’d like to say this that I never force out someone on purpose and I will make sure that this mistake will not happen again.
Thank you for the message that worried about me, I am okay.— N O B U ? (@Nobu_Mat13) August 29, 2020
Both MP drivers will start Sunday’s Sprint Race on the last row of the grid.
ART driver, Armstrong was also on the receiving end of the steward’s disciplines after overtaking Campos driver Jack Aitken on the final lap. Making the move off-track and gaining a lasting advantage earned him the 5s time penalty.
The Campos team posted on their Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CEeXwSDJp_w/?igshid=19wkw3z1v6by
*Image Credit: (C) Formula Motorsport Limited
