Théophile Naël penalized again after the Sprint race at Silverstone

A Saturday to forget for Théophile Naël at Silverstone. The young Frenchman (VAR), who started the Sprint race from fourth position, took the lead for a while before ultimately battling for a podium finish. But it was not to be.

The Frenchman, who finished fourth in the regular season, crossed the line with a ten-second penalty. He was notably found guilty of being too aggressive and repeatedly exceeding track limits in his overtaking moves. This meant he fell out of the points, to 12th position.

Unfortunately, for the VAR driver, it didn't stop there. Naël received a further five-second penalty for leaving the track and taking advantage of this maneuver. According to the stewards, he gained a lasting advantage by attempting to overtake car 11 of Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (Campos Racing) at Turn 3, on the first lap.

From 12th to 19th place for Théophile Naël

After an investigation, the latter examined the video footage and interviewed the two drivers and their representatives. They noted that car 20 (Naël) had given up its position to car 11 (Intharaphuvasak), but only after four laps of racing. According to them, the advantage gained had therefore not really been relinquished.

Thus, in accordance with Article 39.3 (a) of the FIA ​​Sporting Regulations F3, a five-second penalty was applied. The late restitution of the position was considered a mitigating factor. With this additional five-second penalty, Théophile Naël finally moved from 12th to 19th place in the ranking.

ALSO READ > Silverstone – Sprint: Inthraphuvasak dominates the race, disappointment for Naël