Multiple drivers handed penalties after frantic Formula 3 Sprint Race

The Formula 3 sprint race ready for action on Saturday evening after the event was rescheduled. Credit: Joe Portlock via Getty Images

After the rescheduled Formula 3 sprint race at Silverstone, on Saturday, were handed post-race penalties by the Stewards.

Oliver Goethe, Charlie Wurz and debutant James Wharton would all receive penalties from the Race Stewards after the sprint at Silverstone, for round seven of 10 in the 2024 championship.

Wharton of Hitech, who would be driving in place of Martinius Stenshorne for the Silverstone round, would receive a time penalty while Wurz and Goethe would receive grid penalties for the feature race to come on Sunday morning.

The sprint race in Formula 3, on Saturday, would be rescheduled after the race would be postponed due to adverse wet weather conditions. The race was supposed to start in the morning at 09:20 local time but would instead be run at 18:00 local time.

It would be a third win of the year for Arvid Lindblad who would take victory for the Prema Racing team at his home event. The Red Bull junior finished ahead of Noel Leon, who was second to take victory. History was made in third place as Matias Zagazeta would become the first driver from Peru to score points and claim a podium in the FIA Formula 3 Championship

Australian driver James Wharton would finish 13th initially on debut after a decent drive through the field, with many incidents going on around them.However, Wharton would be penalised after the race which would drop him down the order.

Wharton would be handed a time penalty of 10 seconds for a collision with Van Amersfoort Racing's Tommy Smith. The two Australians would end up colliding and this would be investigated by the Stewards.

The Stewards, to investigate, would speak to both drivers and their team representatives as well as reviewing all video evidence. They would determine that Wharton was wholly responsible for the collision being caused. This would result in Wharton being given the 10-second time penalty dropping him from 13th to 18th.

In other news, Charlie Wurz would be handed a post-race penalty, by the Stewards post-race, after an incident during the sprint race between himself and the MP Motorsport of McLaren junior driver Alex Dunne.

This would be quite a peculiar between Wurz in his Jenzer and the MP Motorsport of Irish talent Alex Dunne. Dunne would overtake Wurz on lap 11 on the limits. However, MP were of the opinion that Wurz had gained the place unfairly and Dunne dutifully let the Austrian by.

Straight away on lap 12, down the wellington straight, Dunne would attempt to re-overtake the Jenzer of Wurz. However, in the Irishman's attempt, he would be squeezed onto the grass by Wurz and would lose control of the car and in doing so collected the Jenzer with his McLaren liveried MP Motorsport car.

Wurz would come to a stop at Brooklands, while Dunne would carry on with front wing damage but would have his sprint race ruined. After reviewing the incident after the race, the Stewards would find the Jenzer Motorsport driver, Charlie Wurz, at fault for the collision.

The Stewards would determine, after reviewing all relevant video evidence, that Wurz was wholly responsible for the collision between the pair that caused a virtual safety car. For his punishment, Wurz would be handed a 10-second time penalty for the incident.

However, as Wurz failed to finish the race, this would be converted into a five-place grid penalty for the feature race to take place on Sunday morning at Silverstone. Dunne ended up finishing the race in 22nd overall.

Thirdly, Oliver Goethe would be handed a penalty for an incident in the race that saw him and Max Esterson come together at the infamous Copse corner. The pair came together in the early stages of the race with both ending in the gravel out of the, and the safety car was brought out.

The incident would be investigated by the Stewards after the race. Once they had spoken to both drivers and team representatives, as well as reviewing all relevant video evidence, they determined that Car 10 (Goethe) was wholly responsible for the collision between the pair.

Due to Goethe being wholly responsible, in the eyes of the Stewards, he would be handed a 10-second time penalty, which similarly to Charlie Wurz, would be converted to a five-place grid penalty for the Sunday feature race.

After a whole host of decisions for the ever busy Stewards, it would not be long before they would be back overseeing action in FIA Formula 3.

Action will return at the Silverstone weekend, in Formula 3, on Sunday morning as the series will go racing for the round seven feature race which will have home hero and championship leader, Luke Browning, start on pole position.

​The race will commence at 08:20 local time

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - F1 Journal