BREAKING: Tsolov loses Barcelona podium after post-race penalty

Credit: Formula 2

After finishing second in Formula 2's Feature Race at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Campos Racing's Nikola Tsolov was handed a penalty that dropped him off the podium.

The Bulgarian driver was investigated after the race for overtaking championship leader Gabriele Minì in Turns 10 and 11, and found guilty.

The FIA's official document with the Stewards' findings said: "The Driver of Car 6 explained that he was on soft tyres and he attacked Car 9 at the breaking point of Turn 10, where Car 9 ran wide. Due to the different tyre strategy, it was a simple move at the exit of Turn 10 and entry of Turn 11. He stated that he did not leave the track and that the move was already completed.

"The Driver Car 9 explained that he was defending the position, and that he exited turn 10 quite tight leaving a lot of room at the inside of Turn 11 for Car 6. He also stated that Car 6 left the track and gained a lasting advantage by completing the manoeuvre off track.

"Having considered that matter extensively the Stewards determined that Car 6 left the track at Turn 11 and completed an overtaking move by exceeding the track limits."

Typically for these infractions, a 10 second penalty is given to the offending driver, but the Stewards only gave Tsolov a 5 second penalty due to "mitigating circumstances", the small amount of time that Tsolov spent off-track and the fact that it took a lot of effort to determine whether he had even gone off-track, proving that any advantage he gained would have been small.

As a result of this penalty, Tsolov drops to fourth in the Feature Race results, promoting Alex Dunne to second place and Minì onto the podium.

The updated championship standings have Minì six points in the lead over Tsolov, with Feature Race winner Rafael Câmara 11 points behind.