Sophia Floersch and James Hedley handed penalties after Monaco F3 Sprint

Sophia Floersch (pictured) was handed a post-race penalty with Kacper Sztuka. Credit - Joe Portlock via Getty Images

 Alpine Academy and Van Amersfoort racer Sophia Floersch and Jenzer Motorsport debut racer James Hedley have been handed post-race penalties by the Stewards.

Floersch has been handed a five-place grid penalty for causing a collision in the race that caused her and Kacper Sztuka, who she made contact with, to retire from the race.

Whereas Hedley received a five-second time penalty for failing to stay above the minimum time limit under a safety car procedure.

​Both went to see the Stewards after a crazy sprint race, which saw Nikola Tsolov win for the first time in Formula 3.

Floersch got involved in a collision with Sztuka at the final corner of lap 13, where Sztuka picked up a puncture and Floersch's front wing ended underneath her car. Sztuka would retire from the race at Saint-Devote with a puncture.

Whereas, Floersch would retire in the pit lane shortly after.

After reviewing the incident, the Stewards decided that Floersch was predominantly to blame for the incident and as she retired, she was unable to serve a fair and just punishment. The Stewards would implement a five-place grid drop on Sophia for the feature race in Monaco on Sunday. 

Sophia would also have two penalty points added to her record.
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Fresh from GB3, in place of Matias Zagazeta who had his appendix removed, James Hedley would have been hoping for a nicer debut weekend than what had happened thus far.

A crash in qualifying, a penalty for speeding in the pit lane in the race and a post-race penalty would just rub more salt in the wounds. Hedley would receive a five-second time penalty from the Stewards for failing to hit the minimum time under a safety car. 

This therefore, the Stewards would pick up on, and it would land the 19-year old Brit in hot water. A five-second time penalty would be added to his race time, which would end him 20th. Piotr Wisnicki the only driver below him in the classified list - who completed all 23 laps.

Hedley would be hoping for a better Sunday, while Floresch will already be starting with a disadvantage from what she would have been for the feature race.

The feature race will get under way in Monte Carlo on Sunday morning with Gabriele Mini, Alpine Academy driver on pole position.

Brandon Whiteside
​Writer - f1journal.co.uk