Hitech GP and Rodin Carlin Drivers Disqualified: Impact on Weekend Races and Championship

Disqualified Hitech driver Gabriele Mini, who started tenth, lost the most points. His companions, Luke Browning and Sebastian Montoya, followed. They qualified ninth and thirteenth. Francesco Simonazzi was tentatively 21st for Carlin, and Ido Cohen was disqualified without a lap time. Cohen was turned around by teammate Ollie Gray, who received two penalty points and a three-place start penalty for Sunday’s race.Oliver Goethe, Trident’s quickest qualifier, was penalized with a 10-place grid drop for having “personnel on the grid after the 15-second signal.” Goethe will start the race in 22nd place and Gray in 25th due to this adjustment. Dino Beganovic of Prema lost his qualifying lap time for crossing the track lines. He’s the best driver without a qualifying lap time and will start 23rd.

The disqualifications change the starting grid in a lot of ways, especially for Saturday’s sprint race, which uses a backward grid. Browning and Mini were supposed to start in the fourth and fifth spots. Franco Colapinto of MP Motorsport, who was only 15th fastest in qualifying, has moved up to 12th in the final results and takes the pole position because the grid was turned around. His partner Mari Boya, the ART Grand Prix duo of Gregoire Saucy and Nikola Tsolov, and Taylor Barnard of Jenzer will come after him.

Drama occurred during qualification and practice. Zak O’Sullivan of Boya and Prema was penalized for “driving slowly on the racing line on the entry to turn 11”. Gabriel Bortoleto, Caio Collet, Joshua Dufek, and Pepe Marti of Campos Racing were warned for “weaving on the racing line between turns 10 and 11”. O’Sullivan received another warning for passing Dufek in the practice start line, citing clutch contact issues.

Disqualifications and sanctions are immediate and raise issues about how rigorous the regulations are and how diligent the regulatory authorities are. They surprise the championship by rearranging the cards and creating new dynamics that could affect the upcoming races and the championship. Due to the stakes, disqualified teams and drivers will be constantly observed because even the tiniest error could affect the title battle.