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Technical penalties and engine issues strike before F2’s opening Australia race
by Samarth Kanal
4min read
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Before the first race of the 2025 Formula 2 season in Melbourne, Australia, there were already multiple penalties that shaped proceedings.
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F2 teams had three days of pre-season testing in Spain on February 24-26 to hone their cars where technical infringements led to a shaken up grid for the Australian F2 opener and an unprecedented ruling by the stewards.
How sensor breaches led to unusual F2 penalties
Six drivers and their three teams were given penalties before the opening two races of the 2025 Formula 2 championship in Melbourne.
DAMS, Rodin Motorsport and Trident were each handed €10,000 fines for a pre-season testing infringement involving a sensor - while their six respective drivers were each given a 10-place grid penalty for both races at Albert Park Circuit.
During the pre-season test in Barcelona on February 24-26, two specific articles of the technical regulations led to these penalties:
During Official Tests only, a GPS system, which is connected to the onboard camera and not recorded on the original ECU/data-logger device, may be used.
Apart from pitot tube and pushrod end strain gauges no sensor must protrude from the structure or the bodywork of the car in the external air flow.
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DAMS driver Jak Crawford was one of six to be penalised before qualifying had begun for the 2025 Australian F2 weekend
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The three F2 teams concerned had drilled holes in the diffusers of their respective cars to monitor airflow using air pressure sensors.
The use of this sensor was seen as a potentially significant competitive advantage by the FIA and rival teams, as using it could have helped examine ride-height and suspension combinations to generate more downforce at the rear of the car.
The stewards not only handed the teams financial penalties but gave both of their drivers - six drivers in total - 10-place grid penalties apiece for the opening two F2 races. However, only the cars of Jak Crawford (DAMS), Amaury Cordeel and Alex Dunne (Rodin), and Max Esterson (Trident) were found to have run the sensors during pre-season testing.
Furthermore, the FIA stewards “strongly recommended” that, for the three teams concerned, the upcoming in-season test in Sakhir, Bahrain on March 26-28, 2025, be cut to two days instead of three.
The stewards also recommended that teams - excluding DAMS, Rodin and Trident - would be able to apply for permission to use the sensors in the in-season test to ensure parity.
F2 will adopt these recommendations for the in-season test.
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