F3 race at Monza red flagged due to reckless driving

An Formula 3 European Championship race at Monza was abandoned due to bad driving standards.

Saturday’s second F3 race of the weekend featured two barrel rolls, three safety cars, a red flag and an investigation. The race director called an emergency meeting the following night with drivers and team managers to lay some ground rules for Sunday’s race.

The competitors were told that in the event of a crash caused by bad driving, the race was to continue under the safety car until 75 per cent distance – the point at which maximum points can be awarded – was reached.

But an early safety car caused by a crash by Ryan Tveter meant that by the time it appeared for the second time, with Mikkel Jensen in the gravel at the exit of parabolica, the race did not reach 75 per cent race completion before the allotted 35 minutes.

“The first safety car was not a problem [concerning driving standards], but in the second we had two cars [believed to be Jensen and Lance Stroll] leaving Turn 11 [Parabolica] wide to give them full speed on the straight, and as a result we had an accident. I was talking with the stewards and they said this [abandoning the race] is the only way to do it – you could see pushing on the straight and overtaking manoeuvres off the track.” said Nils Wittich, the race director.