Oliver Caldwell has been banned from the next round of the Formula 2 championship at Spa-Francorchamps after incurring 12 penalty points on his licence.
He reached the limit today after the stewards found he “left the track without a justifiable reason on several occasions” during the feature race at the Hungaroring.
The threat of a ban has hung over Caldwell since the opening round, when he picked up seven penalty points in the second race at Bahrain International Circuit. Five of those were for repeated track limits infringements.
In the races which followed Caldwell picked up further individual penalty points for a series of other incidents such as impeding and a further track limits offence at the Red Bull Ring.
He was given another penalty points after a near-miss with a DAMS mechanic in the pit lane at Imola. Caldwell entered the pits in order to perform a second reconnaissance lap before it began, found the fast lane partly blocked by people and equipment and had to take avoiding action while the mechanic jumped clear.
On that occasion the stewards ruled Caldwell “could have and should have done more to avoid making the situation worse” but noted that “while pit lane is open mechanics must avoid vehicles in the fast lane and bear some responsibility for this as well.”
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Caldwell reached 11 penalty points at the Austrian round, meaning he would only avoid a ban if he completed the six remaining double-header events without collecting a single further penalty point. He has now reached that threshold and his Campos team will require a replacement driver when the series reconvenes at Spa-Francorchamps following the summer break.
He is the second driver this season to reach 12 penalty points and trigger an automatic ban. Amaury Cordeel was banned from the Silverstone round, reaching the threshold in Azerbaijan, the sixth round of the year. Since his return, Cordeel has already collected a further four penalty points.
Oliver Caldwell’s F2 penalty points
| Event | Session | Offence | Penalty | Penalty points |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahrain | Race two | Out of position at Safety Car line one on formation lap | 10 second stop-and-go penalty | 2 |
| Bahrain | Race two | Exceeded track limits at turn four on four occasions | Five-second time penalty | 1 |
| Bahrain | Race two | Exceeded track limits at turn four a fifth time | 10-second time penalty | 2 |
| Bahrain | Race two | Exceeded track limits at turn four a sixth time | Drive-through penalty | 2 |
| Saudi Arabia | Qualifying | Impeded Juri Vips at turn 22… |
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