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Formula 3 European Championship teams angered by Monza penalties

Teams in the Formula 3 European Championship have been angered by the leniency of penalties applied to Pedro Piquet and Jake Dennis at Monza for breaking the series' regulations

Piquet took part in the first free practice session for last weekend's Lamborghini Super Trofeo round at the Italian circuit, while Dennis contested the Blancpain Endurance Cup opener with the WRT Audi squad, pictured, his main programme for the 2017 season.

Both Van Amersfoort Racing, which runs Piquet, and Dennis's team Carlin were found guilty of not notifying the FIA within 30 days of the start of this weekend's meeting of their drivers' Monza track time.

Piquet was forced to sit out the first 15 minutes of free practice on Friday, while Dennis was not given any such penalty, although Carlin was fined €2500, with €2000 suspended until the end of the season.

VAR boss Frits van Amersfoort told Autosport that his team was unaware of Piquet's Lamborghini activities until it was too late, and the stewards' verdict stated: 'Having been made aware by Van Amersfoort Racing that he was in breach of FIA F3 European Championship 2017 sporting regulations, he immediately resigned his driving duties.'

The rule explicitly states that it is not intended to prevent drivers from completing programmes in other race series, hence Dennis's light penalty.

The Briton was called up so late by Carlin to race in the first three rounds of the F3 championship that it would have been impossible not to break the 30-day rule in this case.

Part of the reasoning behind the rule was to prevent teams from given their drivers track-learning time in non-F3 cars, with Prema Powerteam notably using Formula Master machinery in recent years.

Prema's Rene Rosin was one of those annoyed by the leniency of Piquet's punishment.

"The regulation has been clear for a long time and they should know about it - it's a silly mistake," he told Autosport.

"If I lose only 15 minutes [for one of his drivers]... they have created a precedent, that's for sure."

Hitech Grand Prix chief Oliver Oakes hinted that the decision could encourage teams to enter their drivers in free practice or races for other series.

"I think it's very lenient for both," said Oakes.

"It [the track time] makes a huge difference - it's good that everybody knows what the penalty is for breaking the rules.

"Myself and Rene [Rosin] have been targeted with this rule, but we've been playing within the spirit of the championship, and these two things [Piquet's and Dennis's track time] are against the spirit of F3."

Another penalty has been applied to Motopark's Keyvan Andres Soori, who gets a 10-place grid drop for race one after an engine change, caused by a mechanical failure in Wednesday's test.

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