Reuters
Formula One F1- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – December 5, 2021 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in action with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton during the race REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
Reuters
Formula One F1- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia – December 5, 2021 Red Bull’s Max Verstappen in action with Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton during the race REUTERS/Ahmed Yosri
It’s happened again! Remember Michael Masi’s mess-up at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last year with the two F1 title contenders, Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton? Well, a similar incident unfolded during the F2 sprint race that took place at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit.
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If this incident featuring Dennis Hauger isn’t proof that race directors and safety cars don’t go well together, we don’t know what is! But, of course, let us run you through what happened during the Saudi Arabian GP.
What happened in the F2 race at Jeddah?
As expected, it was indeed a safety car-ridden race for F2 with drivers constantly causing one too many incidents on the track. The race was just getting restarted after a safety car period during which Williams junior, Logan Sargeant, and Jack Doohan came together going onto the main straight.
Hauger did initially pull away but decided to drop the hammer which consequently caught Doohan by surprise. Hence, the Virtuosi Racing driver rammed straight into the back of Sargeant’s Carlin, bringing out the safety car again.
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The Safety Car comes in, but Doohan and Sargeant make contact at the back, and they're both out of the race, and out of their cars
The Safety Car comes back out#SaudiArabianGP #F2 pic.twitter.com/OLjnnqTXYS
— Formula 2 (@Formula2) March 26, 2022
What followed was a massive miscommunication between Prema and the race director; The stewards did initially order the teams to follow the safety car through the pit lane but soon came up with another contradicting order – “Pit lane closed.”
This left many bewildered as Prema even allegedly contacted the race director who subsequently affirmed Hauger must drive through the pit lane.
Hauger hit with a penalty
The Norwegian followed his team’s words to drive through the pit lane only to realize that the rest of the pack had stayed out. Soon, the stewards slapped Hauger with a 10-second stop/go penalty for driving through a closed pit lane.
Well, Prema weren’t happy at all! Turns out, Prema had asked the race director ‘twice’ before ordering the then race leader to drive through the pit lane. If what Prema alleges is true, this is certainly another black mark on the quality of the race directors.
.@hauger_dennis serving his stop and go penalty which was given to him for coming through the pitlane after confirmation he had to do so from race direction #F2 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/LpYWFFm0Vm
— PREMA (@PREMA_Team) March 26, 2022
Not only did Hauger lose his lead but also had to offload the penalty as he ultimately finished P17; He further yelled through his team radio – “Fu*k the race directors“. So, it will be quite interesting to see how this issue develops in the coming hours.
Read More: How Much Weight Do F1 Drivers Lose During a Race?
