5 days ago
Max Verstappen warning sent as F1 hopeful receives ban and will miss next race
With Max Verstappen on the brink of a Formula 1 race ban, one Formula 3 driver has already triggered that punishment with an astonishing run of incidents over just two race weekends
A future Formula 1 hopeful has been banned from his next race after a dreadful run of penalties. Nicola Lacorte, who is a member of the Alpine driver academy, won't take to the track in the next round at the Austrian Grand Prix because of his actions at the last two races in Monaco and Spain.
It is the same punishment that Max Verstappen could face if he gets into any more trouble with the F1 stewards at the upcoming Canadian Grand Prix. The Dutchman has 11 penalty points to his name after ramming George Russell in Barcelona last Sunday and one more in Montreal will force him to miss the Austria race, the home event of his Red Bull team.
Already guaranteed to be absent is Lacorte who will not be allowed to contest the F3 races that are a support event to the F1 Grand Prix in Spielberg. That is because of a shocking run of penalty points accumulated in the space of just two weekends.
It began at the Monaco Grand Prix, when he was given five penalty points in one go for failing to notice that he had been disqualified from qualifying because he was assisted by a marshal on track.
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The stewards were unimpressed that he continued to driver despite being shown black flags – the universal motorsport signal that a driver has been disqualified. And Lacorte was in their crosshairs again a day later when, during the Sprint race, he landed two more penalty points for colliding with rival Santiago Ramos.
The following round was in Barcelona last weekend, with Lacorte looking to stay out of trouble having accumulated seven penalty points in the previous round. But that didn't happen – the Italian teenager was handed four more in qualifying for causing another collision, this time with Jose Garfias.
Lacorte apologies for initiating the contact but was still on the brink of a race ban, with 11 points on his licence. And he went over the threshold during Sunday's feature race in Barcelona, handed three penalty points for driving too slowly during a safety car period.
So a ban was already confirmed for the next round in Austria, but his rule-breaking did not stop there. Three more penalty points were forthcoming for another safety car infringement, while he added one more before the end of the race for colliding with Brando Badoer.
That brought his total up to 18 penalty points over the course of the two race weekends in Monaco and Spain. And, to make matter worse, the F3 penalty points system makes it clear that points accumulated beyond the ban threshold do roll over. So when Lacorte returns from his ban, he will already be in six points – halfway towards another.
He has been part of the Alpine driver academy since 2023 and, in a statement, said they would be supporting the 18-year-old. A spokesperson said: "We are working with Nicola and his team to analyse the specific incidents that led to the penalty points and to implement measures to prevent similar occurrences in the future."
