Dunne loses superb F2 win in Belgium after penalty

After receiving a 10-second penalty, Ireland’s Alex Dunne was denied entry to the Formula 2 feature race in Belgium.

The race started behind the safety car at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday after Dunne, 19, had already placed in pole position.

The McLaren Development Driver won his third F2 race of the season when racing started.

Dunne was penalized by 10 seconds, however, because he “did not engage the start set-up procedure at the formation lap.”

Arvid Lindblad, a British Red Bull Junior driver, was disqualified from second place after third-place finisher Roman Stanek won the race on the road.

In the F2 standings, Richard Verschoor and Dunne had previously held the lead, but he now sits fourth behind the Dutch driver, who in turn is trailing behind Leonardo Fornaroli, the new championship leader and sprint race winner.

On social media, Dunne wrote, “Definitely hurts to have the win taken away for something that has no impact on the race.”

Dunne in Belgium had a dominating weekend, winning by 0.421 seconds in dry conditions during the practice period.

He placed second behind Dutch driver with a pole position lead and finished seventh in the reverse grid sprint race, gaining two points from Verschoor.

The Formula 3 race had to be postponed due to the heavy rain that hit the Belgian circuit on Sunday morning, but conditions improved so that the F2 race could begin behind the safety car, which was a different start procedure that ultimately resulted in his penalty.

After the first pit stops, Dunne held on for a four-second lead before the race even began, despite a brief challenge from Japan’s Ritomo Miyata.

His fast pit stop allowed him to rejoin the race in fourth place, behind unistalling drivers, thanks to Rodin Motorsport’s quick turnaround.

Then, to regain the lead, Dunne produced a stunning overtake past Ollie Goethe and pulled away from Stanek and Lindblad around the outside of Pouhon bend.

Sebastian Montoya, who had five laps to go before he spun at Eau Rouge, was in a late safety car.

When Goethe’s engine expired with two laps to go, the Colombian’s car was still being recovered, causing race control to red flag the event, which allowed Dunne to take the chequered flag unchallenged.

At the start of the race, behind the safety car, Dunne was immediately penalized for the infringement.

According to FIA documents, Dunne and his Rodin team “decided not to activate the set-up procedure” and that they had consulted with engineers prior to leaving the grid.

In what was Dunne’s most comprehensive debut for the Formula 2 season to date, the error cost him, but Fornaroli now has 11 points after the penalty.

After being disqualified from the feature race in Austria for excessive plank wear on the skid block of his car, Dunne has lost a podium finish twice in three rounds.

After round 10/14

1. 125 – Leonardo Fornaroli (ITA)

2. Richard Verschoor (NED) 122

3. Jak Crawford (USA) 116

4. Alex Dunne (IRL) 114