F2 rules loophole allows reprimanded driver to compete

The FIA will investigate a rule that allowed banned Formula 2 driver Mahaveer Raghunathan to see out the

Paul Ricard round.

MP Motorsport driver Raghunathan amassed his 12th penalty point of the F2 season during last weekend’s feature race for infringements during three virtual safety car periods.

The penalty points system was introduced in Formula 1 in 2014, and was also adopted by its feeder series. The regulation states that the ban will be in force for the next round, and not the next race

– a stipulation F1 did not need to make because it races once per weekend.

That meant Raghunathan was allowed to contest Sunday’s race, in which he finished 18th.

Until now, no driver had accrued the 12 points that would lead to a ban.

“It is something that we had a long chat about last night [Saturday] and this morning [Sunday],” said FIA race director Michael Masi.

“I don’t think it is a loophole, it is an unintended consequence. They were designed for an F1 event with one race, not two.

“So yeah, it is one of those [things] that we had a long chat about, but he was allowed to participate today and it is something we will look at with the steering group and go from there, which is how those regulations were formed.”

Rookie Raghunathan has been criticised, especially on social media, because he has struggled to get up to speed in the category. In qualifying, his smallest deficit to pole this season is 2.660 seconds, which he managed at Barcelona, where he had tested during pre-season.

He has also been accused by other drivers of defending too aggressively at times. His driving came under scrutiny in Monaco when he appeared to hold up Jack Aitken during qualifying and the feature race.

As the series races this weekend in Austria, Raghunathan’s ban has left his team with little time to replace him and had not announced a second driver when Autosport went to press.