Track limits penalties twice as tough for F3 drivers in opening race · RaceFans

Formula 3 stewards doubled the severity of penalties for drivers caught exploiting track limits in the first race of the new season.

During Friday’s sprint race, Luke Browning and Matias Zagazeta were hit with 10-second time penalties for leaving the track and “gaining a lasting advantage.” Track limits infringements typically attracted five-second time penalties in the series last year.

The stewards described the sanction applied in Browning’s case as a “baseline penalty” for a driver who had overtaken a rival by exceeding the limits of the track.

Browning was penalised for overtaking Christian Mansell when he left the track at turn four. “Once entering the corner, Car 14 attempted an outside pass on car 23 [Browning], left the track and re-joined in front of car 23 [Mansell],” the stewards noted.

They ruled that because Browning’s “front axle was not alongside the front axle of car 23 at the apex of the corner or the exit” he “was not entitled to be given room by car 23.”

“The stewards determined that car 14 left the track and gained a lasting advantage by exceeding the track limits and impose the baseline penalty of a 10 seconds time penalty,” they concluded.

Zagazeta was found to have gained a similar advantage when he passed Tom Smith at turn eight in the same race. In this case the stewards ruled Smith had correctly left enough room for his rival, but Zagazeta had failed to use it and instead gone off the track.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

“Video evidence showed that car 22 [Smith] was alongside car 19 [Zagazeta] at the apex of the corner and it was driven in a safe and controlled matter throughout the manoeuvre (entry, apex, and exit),” they noted. “In addition, the images clearly show that car 22 left enough room to car 19 between his car and the white line.

“[The] driver of car 19 explained that he was side-by-side of car 22 at the exit of the corner and decided to run wide to avoid the kerb at [turn eight] and any potential damage to his car.

“The stewards concluded that car 19 left the track at [turn eight] and maintained his position by exceeding the track limits. Therefore, considered that car 19 gained a lasting advantage and decided to impose a 10-second time penalty.”

Zagazeta later retired from the race, meaning his penalty had no effect. Noting this, the stewards said they said they “decided not to impose a grid place penalty on the driver for the next race due to the…