Kush Maini was penalized for his role in the serious accident at the start of the Formula 2 main race in Azerbaijan.
The Baku Competition was sent off after a few seconds because of the incident with the Invicta driver MainiOliver Goethe from MP Motorsport and Campos driver Pepe Marti.
Maini, who started the race in fifth place, stopped and stayed on the grid as the field scattered in evasive maneuvers. But after Goethe brushed against the stationary Invicta, Marti – who had started 21st of the 22 drivers – crashed into Maini’s left rear and overturned his own car, which was able to be righted by further contact with the pit wall.
Both Maini and a representative of the Invicta team were summoned to appear before the race management, but the driver did not appear.
During the hearing, race stewards found that Maini had failed to follow the starting procedure for the race, which led to his initial stalling and the subsequent incident.
As a result, Maini received a 10-second time penalty, which was converted into a five-place demotion for the next race he starts, which, barring any unforeseen circumstances, will be the sprint race in Qatar.
In addition, two points were added to his record.
Although this had little consequence given his immediate retirement, Maini was also disqualified from the main race because, according to the race director’s report, “a defined activation of the setup procedure must be used at all formation laps and race starts”.
“I’m glad that no one was hurt and that Oliver and Pepe are OK,” said Maini. “That’s the most important thing after such an accident.”
“It’s a real shame that the weekend ends like this because we had a strong pace in practice, qualifying and the sprint.”
Team principal Andy Roche added: “I know I speak for everyone in the team when I say that we are all just relieved that Kush has come out of this serious incident unscathed.
“Nobody likes to see accidents like this, but it speaks volumes for the FIA and the Formula 2 cars that everyone got away unhurt.”
