Stewards dismiss Fortec protest
The British Formula 3 stewards have dismissed a protest by title-contending squad Fortec Motorsport against the driving of championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne in the third race at Rockingham this afternoon
The protest followed a first-lap maelstrom that eliminated Raikkonen Robertson racer Carlos Huertas and badly delayed poleman Oli Webb (Fortec) in the 40-minute feature race.
Vergne (Carlin) appeared to squeeze Huertas to the inside on the run down to the Deene hairpin, until contact caused the Colombian to spin down the track into retirement. Vergne then seemed to lock up under braking for the hairpin and nerf chief title rival Webb out of the lead.
The incident caused ripples of chaos down the order and officials deployed the safety car for two laps as marshals cleared the aftermath. Fortec lodged a formal protest after the race, but officials dismissed the action after reviewing video evidence and hearing testimony from the teams.
Carlin argued the contact with Huertas damaged Vergne's left-rear wheel and caused pad 'knock-off' on his brakes, leading to a pressure loss in the system that left the Frenchman unable to stop properly for the hairpin and unable to avoid hitting the rear of Webb's Dallara-Mercedes.
AUTOSPORT understands the stewards have blamed Huertas for jinking right into Vergne on the run to the Deene hairpin, thus causing the initial accident and leading to Vergne's secondary contact with Webb. They have also fined the Colombian £500 for his part in the incident.
Be part of the Autosport community
Join the conversationShare Or Save This Story
The supercharged Revolution that has piqued an Olympic legend's motorsport taste
How Radical revamped its record-breaking flagship model
Inside the lightweight Czech sportscar making its mark on the UK
Erik Jones sidelined with compression fracture after Talladega crash
Alpine confident for 'good news' in Habsburg injury recovery
Ferrari "made too many mistakes" for podium fight at F1 Chinese GP
What is a wildcard in MotoGP and why is it used?
Why Alpine’s rigorous training camp yields telling insights into its juniors
Why F1's junior logjam isn't entirely a product of current issues
Ranking the top 10 drivers on F1's undercard in 2023
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments