– There are curious penalties and then there is this one: Formula 2 driver Noel Leon was disqualified from the classification after the main race of the junior series in Spa-Francorchamps because a guest of his Campos racing team wore the wrong headset.
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The Mexican had finished the main Formula 2 race in Belgium in seventh place, despite starting from the last grid position. However, he is not allowed to keep the six points awarded for this result due to the disqualification.
During the race, the accusation arose that a “non-operational person” had used a headset with a microphone in the pit lane during the red flag caused by the accident of Trident driver Laurens van Hoepen.
This violated Article 21.5 and Appendix 5 of the Sporting Regulations of Formula 2. These regulations state that no team may have more than twelve personnel involved in the operation of the car at the track during the event. These must be reported to the FIA via a list in Appendix 5.
It also states: “To remove any doubt, it must be clarified that non-operational staff (excluding drivers) – to be considered as such – may only possess a headset with receive-only function (‘listen-only radio headset’).”
After the race, the stewards spoke both with Nikola Tsolov, as Leon had already left the track, and with a team representative from Campos. The team representative explained that the person involved was a guest of the team who had accidentally taken the wrong type of headset.
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The stewards considered that the team remains responsible for ensuring that the radio equipment provided to non-operational staff and team guests complies with the applicable requirements.
However, the stewards decided that the guest was “exclusively assigned to the car with number 5,” which is why only Leon was excluded from the race. His teammate Nikola Tsolov was lucky to keep his third place and continues to lead the Formula 2 championship.
Furthermore, Campos was docked 25 points in the championship – but on probation. If the Spanish team violates this article of the Sporting Regulations again this season, the deduction will be enforced.
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The main Formula 2 race was won by Ferrari junior Rafael Camara (Invicta) ahead of ART driver Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Tsolov. The Red Bull junior leads the championship by 27 points over Alpine junior Gabriele Mini (MP) and 36 points over Camara after eight of 14 weekends.
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