Opinion: Stephen Lickorish

For the third time, British F4 driver Roman Bilinski has hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. And his latest escaping of a ban is the most baffling of all

“It sends the wrong message out. We’re trying to teach young drivers the rights and wrongs”

We have never heard more about rules and regulations than we have during the coronavirus pandemic. Whether it was criticism of the severity of the rules, frustration over them being confusing and impossible to follow, or anger at people who should really know better flouting them, the rules have never been more in the spotlight.

But this column is not about temporary laws introduced to tackle a devastating virus, instead it’s about rules that have been in place for far longer. Specifically, it’s about governing body Motorsport UK’S regulations surrounding the punishment of drivers guilty of wrongdoing on track. Unlike the tangled web of coronavirus legislation, the rules surrounding licence penalty points seem fairly straightforward: if you pick up 12 points on your competition licence within a 12-month period, your licence is suspended. So far, so simple.

And yet one driver has proved over the past two years that it is anything but. Regular Autosport readers will likely be aware of the case of Roman Bilinski, a driver who in not only Ginetta Junior (in 2019) but also in British Formula 4 (in 2020) managed to accrue 12 penalty points in less than 12 months and yet escaped having his licence suspended. On each occasion, he had picked up two sets of points on the same weekend and, via a rule that is still not written anywhere in the hundreds of thousands of words that make up

Motorsport UK’S Year Book, only the highest of these would count towards the tallying up process.

Regardless of the baffling nature of that unwritten rule, which effectively says that once you’ve committed one offence, you can do what you want for the rest of the weekend without risk of further points counting, it does explain why Bilinski was not banned in 2019 and 2020. But it does not explain why he was allowed to compete in the Snetterton F4 event earlier this month.

Bilinski picked up penalty points at Donington Park, Oulton Park and Knockhill last year, and picked up further sanctions in the 2021 opener at Thruxton. Regardless of the fact that there were two sets of points from both Knockhill and Thruxton, just taking the highest from each venue gives a total of 13. And he should therefore have been given the standard three-month ban. The delayed start to the 2020 season means the entire campaign was conducted less than 12 months ago, and Autosport is unaware of any of the issued points having been rescinded.

When Autosport closed for press on Tuesday afternoon, we had not received an explanation from Motorsport UK for why Bilinski was able to race in Norfolk. There could be any number of reasons why he was allowed to compete, but all of these would be pure speculation, so won’t be discussed here. What makes the situation even worse is that the Carlin driver got involved in yet another collision in the final Snetterton contest and, for what it’s worth, was handed a further three points on his licence.

Now, Bilinski is 17 and everyone makes mistakes, particularly at that age. And that does have to considered, as does the impact of any ban on his individual circumstances. It must also be noted that the majority of his offences have been relatively minor indiscretions that have not been too outrageous. But that’s not the point. The point is, during a period of over two years, he has consistently been involved in silly collisions and made clumsy errors of judgement when racing wheel to wheel with other drivers. Despite a noticeable improvement in his racecraft at the end of last year, he still clearly has not learned his lesson.

And accruing so many penalty points surely warrants some sort of further punishment. The short, sharp shock of a three-month ban sounds perfectly appropriate, and could be just what Bilinski needs to undergo a reset and develop a fresh approach to battling other cars. But, by not banning him, Motorsport UK has sent out an incredibly worrying message to other teenagers, one that suggests crashing into rivals is OK.

“I’m really angry about the situation and I’m waiting to hear from Motorsport UK for an explanation,”says one F4 team boss. “It’s just wrong and something has to be done about it. It sends the wrong message out. We’re trying to teach young drivers the rights and wrongs, and Motorsport UK isn’t helping.”

There is no doubting that this is a turbulent time to be a governing body as Motorsport UK continues to navigate the sport through the coronavirus-infested waters. It has generally done a very good job of doing so under difficult circumstances. And yet those tricky times cannot be an excuse for inaction or a lack of transparency. If Bilinski is on the F4 grid at Brands Hatch this weekend without a proper explanation being issued to affected parties, the governing body could have an even messier situation on its hands.

No one wants to be issuing bans or severe sanctions to drivers but, when it’s necessary, it has to be done. The regulations are in place for a reason, and creating exceptions risks setting a very dangerous precedent. When this is ultimately a matter of driver safety, it means now is the time for action and to follow the rules. Unfortunately for Bilinski, that means issuing an immediate ban.