ESPN.comReading: 2 min.
The joy did not last long for Franco Colapinto: seven hours following his great victory in the Formula 3 Sprint Race in Australia, the FIA announced the exclusion of the Argentine because the MP team car did not pass the technical review.
The Argentine had started from sixth place in the short race of the second date of the World Cup and, following brilliant handling, he had taken the victory following a brilliant overcoming of Sebastián Montoya. The runner who belongs to the Williams Academy, the English Formula 1 team’s talent development program, had celebrated on the podium while listening to the Argentine anthem. Then he went through the press conference, showed all his joy at the success and his day was over. However, his car was not in order.
The statement from the International Automobile Federation indicated that the three cars of the MP team failed to comply with articles 1.3 and 2.5 of the category’s technical regulations. The technical stewards found the outer edges of the keel of the bodywork had been modified or repaired and, in doing so, widened and cut, modifying the geometry, something that is not allowed. The difference in measurement reached 150 millimeters. According to the FIA document, the MP team representative who appeared before the Federation delegate was unable to explain how the difference arose.
From the team they argued that this part of the bodywork was provided directly by the manufacturer (Dallara), but the FIA’s response was that the difference between the part extracted from the cars and the regulatory one that appears in the manual is so evident to the simple view, that the team should have noticed and not used the part. The MP team has the right to appeal the sanction.
With the Argentine sanctioned, the victory was inherited by Zak O’Sullivan, while Sebastián Montoya jumped to second place.
