The first weekend starts off tough for these three teams: 10 positions to be served in both races.
The first green light of the season hasn’t even turned on yet, but penalties are already piling up in Formula 2: in fact, the drivers from the Rodin, Trident, and DAMS teams – Amaury Cordeel, Alex Dunne, Sami Meguetounif, Max Esterson, Jak Crawford, and Kush Maini – will each receive a 10-position grid penalty, to be served in both the Sprint Race and the Feature Race. The season for these six drivers will thus start off with a challenging uphill battle.
The penalty for the three teams, however, is not yet complete: they will also have to pay a fine of €10,000 and will be forced to miss one day of the three scheduled test days in Sakhir, set for March 26-27-28.
Penalties for Rodin, Trident, and DAMS: the reasons.
Why was such a heavy penalty applied for the opening round in Australia? The three teams violated four articles of the Formula 2 Technical Regulations: Article 10.2°, Article 1.5.2, Article 8.4.10, and Article 8.4.11.
In fact, the cars of Jak Crawford, Christian Mansell (who was later replaced by Amaury Cordeel for the entire season), Alex Dunne, and Max Esterson were equipped with an air pressure sensor installed by drilling holes in the diffuser, in order to direct the airflow underneath into the pressure sensor duct, thereby modifying a standard part of the vehicle.
Moreover, the penalty was intensified because the data collected could have been used as an advantage for the other cars of the team that did not have the sensor installed.
PHOTO: Kush Maini, Alex Dunne, Trident Team.
