F2 Azerbaijan Sprint Race: reprimand, no further action, grid penalty
11th June 2022Campos’ Ralph Boschung and Charouz Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi were summoned to the stewards after the Formula 2 sprint race, in Azerbaijan.
Boschung and Fittipaldi were both summoned to the race stewards after the F2 sprint race. Boschung was found to be the main culprit for causing a collision with Trident’s Calan Williams while Fittipaldi was deemed to have forced Hitech’s Juri Vips off the track.
Reprimand: Enzo Fittipaldi
After the sprint race, Fittipaldi was issued a reprimand as he ‘forced’ Vips off the track.
On lap 17, after a safety car restart, the stewards saw the Charouz driver had out braked himself into the second corner at the safety car restart. As Fittipaldi broke on the dirty line, going into turn two, he locked up and went straight on into the available run-off area.
Vips lost ground as the race got back underway at turn one, but as he arrived at turn two the Hitech driver had to take evasive action to avoid a collision with Fittipaldi. As a result, the Estonian was forced off the track as the Charouz driver clipped – and broke – his suspension.
In the Document 32, the stewards said:
“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that on the safety car restart with cold tyres and brakes, Car 22 [Fittipaldi] braked on the dirty line and locked up and went straight not making the corner.
“This caused Car 8 [Vips] to take evasive action by going off track into the run off area. While there was no contact between the cars, Car 8 was forced off track and his race compromised.
“Car 22 is held wholly at fault.”
Three-grid penalty: Ralph Boschung
Boschung was issued with a three-place grid penalty for the next race he participates in, which would be Sunday’s Feature Race, and a point which would be added to his driving record. This comes after he was deemed to be at fault for causing a collision late on in the race.
After the final safety car restart, ART’s Frederik Vesti in a final lap shootout for victory against Prema’s Jehan Daruvala. However, further back, Boschung went wheel-to-wheel with the Trident of Williams into turn one.
Contact was soon made between the two drivers as Williams nose-dived into the Tecpro barriers and Boschung was launched into the air.
The stewards, in Document 34, said:
“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that at the restart after the final safety car period car 15 [Boschung] was on the inside approaching T1.
“Car 21 [Williams] was passing on the outside and was significantly ahead at the turn in point and then fully alongside at the apex. The driver of Car 15 explained that he was aware of Car 21 but with cold tires at the restart he understeered.
“Car 15 used the full width of the track. Contact occurred between the cars and car 21 was forced into the barrier at the exit of Turn 1. Both cars retired.
“The stewards determined that Car 21 was entitled to a minimum of a car width at the exit and as Car 15 did not leave this space, [Boschung] is judged to be wholly at fault for the incident.”
No further action: Olli Caldwell, Campos
At the lap 17 restart, Campos’ Olli Caldwell had damaged his his front wing as the race had gotten back underway. No further action was deemed necessary for the incident.
As the field prepared to go racing around the streets of Baku, they were waiting for the race leader – Prema’s Jehan Daruvala – to bolt away. However, as Charouz’s Cem Bolukbasi moved over to gain better visibility of the situation, his rear left tyre made contact with Caldwell’s front wing.
This forced the Campos driver to go straight into the pits to have a new front wing put on as the field went back to green flag racing.
In the stewards documents, Document 33, they said:
“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that Car 23 [Bolukbasi] was in front of Car 14 at the restart. Car 23 moved to the left for better vision of the restart and also to warm tyres.
“The left rear tyre of Car 23 made contact with the front right of the wing of Car 14. From the video and evidence available it was not clear if either driver was wholly or predominantly at fault, hence the decision of no further action.
“The Stewards took the opportunity to remind the drivers of the requirements to drive at a constant speed and not to have any overlap as per the Race Director Event Notes Item 10.1.”
That’s it for the article: F2 Azerbaijan Sprint Race: reprimand and grid penalty! What do you think, do you agree with the outcomes? Let us know in the comments!
Read more Formula Two here:
- F2 Azerbaijan Sprint Race: Frederik Vesti wins after late drama
- F2 Monaco: Felipe Drugovich extends lead with feature race win
- F2 Monaco: Dennis Hauger secures sprint race win as Jake Hughes stalls
To keep up to date with the latest news from Apex Motorsports, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook!
Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
