Zandvoort European F3: Dennis punished, Leclerc cleared to race
Formula 3 European Championship title contender Jake Dennis has been given a suspended grid penalty after a bizarre incident in the first race at Zandvoort
Dennis, who had clutch problems, crept forward before the lights went out. Although he dropped from fourth to sixth at the start proper, he was given a drive-through penalty for the offence.
Before taking the penalty the Briton slowed in the last two corners, causing a chain reaction that resulted in Santino Ferrucci, who was running eighth, damaging his front wing by hitting seventh-placed George Russell.
As a result, Dennis has been given a "drop of 10 positions on the grid suspended for the next two races the driver will participate" for "driving unnecessarily slowly".
An angry Ferrucci, who was forced to pit for a new wing, said: "Out of the chicane I had a four-car gap to Russell, and Jake was five more lengths in front.
"Into the next turn everyone stopped - it's a fourth-gear turn. Then we started to go again, and as we went through the last turn he braked again.
"George just missed him but I couldn't avoid him and I broke my front wing - it was really rude and unrespectful from Jake."
Dennis said: "There was some slight confusion with the radio message, and I went through the last corner not at 100 per cent.
"It caused some confusion behind, but I was driving around doing my own thing."
LECLERC CLEARED TO RACE
Meanwhile, championship leader Charles Leclerc has been cleared to race in Sunday's weekend finale.
Leclerc crashed his Van Amersfoort Racing car in the 140mph Scheivlak bend due to right-rear suspension failure caused in a startline collision in race two, raising fears of monocoque damage.
Scrutineers cleared the car on Saturday evening, allowing Leclerc to take up 10th place on the grid.
Zandvoort European F3: Charles Leclerc could be sidelined by crash
European F3 Zandvoort: Motopark's Markus Pommer gets first win
Dennis singles out Jaguar as Porsche's biggest Formula E threat
Jake Dennis says Porsche cannot let off its development of its Gen3 Formula E powertrain, and singled out Jaguar as a threat to the German manufacturer in the coming rounds.
Verstappen buoyed by new handling characteristics of 2023 F1 tyres
Formula 1 world champion Max Verstappen is hopeful the new Pirelli tyres will help further dial out the inherent understeer of the current generation of cars.
Pastrana adds NASCAR Truck Series race to Daytona programme
Travis Pastrana has added the season-opening NASCAR Truck Series race to his appearance at Daytona International Speedway this month.
Turkington continues with WSR BMW for 2023 BTCC season
Four-time British Touring Car champion Colin Turkington will bid for a fifth title in 2023 with the West Surrey Racing BMW squad, the team confirmed on Wednesday morning.
Ranking the 10 best drivers from F1's junior series in 2022
The ladder to F1 never gets any less slippery. But a strong cast of Formula 3 and Formula 2 aces proved sure of foot as they continued their climbs in 2022
What racing in Australia means for the future of F1's junior series
The announcement that FIA Formula 2 and 3 would race alongside the Australian Grand Prix from 2023 came as a surprise, not only to fans but to the series’ teams too. But with Formula 1’s boom in popularity bringing more fans to the championships, team principals are relishing the opportunity
Why the Formula 3 benchmark's 2022 season hinges on qualifying
Prema Racing has long dominated FIA Formula 3, taking the teams’ title in two of the past three seasons. But its start to 2022 has been trickier than usual, and the answers lie in its qualifying performance
How the ultra-tight F3 title fight is taking shape
With just five points separating the top five after two rounds, FIA Formula 3 looks set for another thrilling season in 2022. But who stands the best chance of pulling away from that pack, and who are the contenders bubbling under?
The F3 newcomer making good on his unusual career path
Joining the FIA Formula 3 grid as a rookie with a team new to the series could prove daunting for most, but then there aren't many drivers who have the extensive experience Franco Colapinto brings from his time racing sportscars. The Argentinian explains how his LMP2 experience is already helping him in 2022
The British trio hunting for F3 title glory
The 2022 FIA Formula 3 season kicks off this weekend in Bahrain. British trio Zak O’Sullivan, Ollie Bearman and Jonny Edgar have all become proteges of Formula 1 teams, and are talents to watch this year
How an outsider demolished a rank of F1 juniors
His career has been a slowburner but Gregoire Saucy trounced a collection of F1 juniors in Formula Regional by Alpine last year, and now he’s preparing to do it again in FIA F3. Here’s how the Swiss caught the world by surprise in 2021 and how he plans to do it all over again
Ranking the top 10 F2 and F3 drivers of 2021
With a veritable feast of feeder series talent in 2021, FIA Formula 2 and Formula 3 produced some of its most exciting racing yet. Although Prema Racing drivers once again dominated the respective series, drivers from other teams also stole the limelight to mark themselves out as stars of the future, or validate their highly-regarded standing
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.