Beganovic handed penalty for Bortoleto Spa F3 sprint clash

The Prema driver ran into the back of Trident rival Bortoleto after he had passed him for ninth at Turn 1 on lap nine.

Bortoleto slowed before coming to a stop on track after Radillon having suffered damage to the rear of his car, prompting another safety car in a much-interrupted race.

The penalty drops Beganovic from ninth in the classification to 23rd. He also received two penalty points for the incident.

Speaking after the collision, Bortoleto said: “We were in T1, I think conditions were very tricky in this moment.

“I think for him it’s just the braking point, he braked a little bit too late and at the end he hit me and hit my diffuser.

“Then after we don’t know what happened exactly, we don’t know if this is the reason we stop two corners later or not, but we had a problem on the car.

“Things that can happen in the race, especially in these conditions when it’s wet and drying up and slick tyres are very tricky.

“So I don’t blame him, it’s racing and let’s go for it tomorrow.”

He added: “It wasn’t a puncture, it was probably something on the back of my car when I got hit but we are not sure.”

The FIA stewards said: “On the approach to Turn 1, Car 2 was behind Car 5. At the breaking point, Car 2 misjudged his speed and position behind Car 5 and subsequently collided into Car 5.

“The driver of Car 2 explained that any other evasive action by him may have resulted in a more serious collision.

“The Stewards appreciated the driver's candid feedback and for taking responsibility for the incident.”

Campos Racing title rival Pepe Marti escaped any further action after he crashed into Rodin Carlin driver Ido Cohen when rejoining the track.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Trident

Photo by: Formula Motorsport Ltd

He had been involved in a collision with Gabriele Mini (Hitech) which saw him nudged into a spin on the run-off area at Turn 10 when he attempted to rejoin the track.

Marti was unable to spin due to grip levels and waited to rejoin while he had a limited field of vision.

A marshal, who had his hand raised in a “stop gesture", then waved his arm to signal the Marti to rejoin, when he hit Cohen.

The stewards said: “The marshal’s field of view may have been limited and therefore was not able to take note of Car 22 that was approaching at race pace. Car 23 collided into Car 22.

“Car 22 was only able to take slight evasive action to avoid Car 23 as it re-joined.

“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards, view that Car 23 has acted based on the instructions received by the marshal at the opposite end of the track.

“The Stewards elect to take this into account as a mitigating circumstance and deem to take no further action on Car 23.”

Mini was handed a 10-second penalty for his part in the collision with Marti, which is converted to a five-place grid drop for tomorrow’s feature race, pushing him from third to eighth.

The sprint race was initially classified without points, but the FIA has since made a U-turn on this decision as it deemed the full distance had been completed and the shortened-contest rule did not apply.