Pourchaire, Vips, Armstrong and Fittipaldi penalised following Le Castellet Sprint Race

23 July 2022

Four drivers have been penalised following the conclusion of Round 9’s Sprint Race in Le Castellet.

Firstly, Théo Pourchaire has been awarded a five-second time penalty for forcing Marcus Armstrong off the track at Turn 11 during the latter stages of the race. The Stewards found that the ART Grand Prix driver attempted to pass the Kiwi up the inside of Turn 11 but was unable to hold the line, and as a result he ran wide and forced the Hitech Grand Prix driver off track.

Secondly, Jüri Vips has also received a five-second time penalty for forcing Armstrong off the track at Turn 15. The Stewards determined that Vips tried to pass his Hitech teammate up the inside of Turn 15 but was unable to hold the line. Consequently, the Estonian driver ran wide, made light contact with Armstrong’s car and forced him off track.

Furthermore, Armstrong has been awarded a five-second time penalty as well for causing a collision with Jehan Daruvala on Lap 19. Whilst battling over second place, Armstrong attempted to pass the PREMA Racing driver up the inside of Turn 8. However, the New Zealander made contact with Daruvala and then ran wide at the exit. This contact forced the Indian driver to go off track and rejoin at the exit of Turn 9 without gaining a lasting advantage.

As a result of these time penalties, Pourchaire, who had crossed the finish line in third, now drops to seventh. Meanwhile, Vips is demoted from P6 to P11, and Armstrong drops from P9 to P13. This promotes Felipe Drugovich to third, while Logan Sargeant moves into the final points-paying position in eighth.

Lastly, Enzo Fittipaldi has been handed a five-place grid drop for the next race he participates in, after being found wholly responsible for causing a collision with Roberto Merhi. The Stewards found that while attempting to overtake the Campos Racing driver up the inside of Turn 8, Fittipaldi had not achieved a significant overlap by the turn-in point for the corner. Consequently, the Charouz Racing System driver had not earned the right to racing room. The Brazilian driver had qualified P14 and will thus start from P19 on tomorrow’s Feature Race grid.