The F2 Stewards issued penalties to four drivers following Qualifying at Spa-Francorchamps, significantly changing the starting order for the Belgian GP Sprint Race.
Noel León lost all his qualifying times after causing a red flag, while Emerson Fittipaldi Jr., Rafael Villagómez and Cian Shields received grid penalties for yellow flag infringements. The Stewards will apply the penalties to both the Sprint and Feature Races.
León loses reverse-grid pole
León originally qualified in 10th place, which would have put the Campos Racing driver on reverse-grid pole for the Sprint Race. However, the Stewards deleted all his lap times after determining that he had caused the red flag during the opening stages of Qualifying.
The Campos driver spun and came to a stop at Turn 5, forcing officials to suspend the session. After speaking to León and a team representative and reviewing the available video evidence, the Stewards concluded that no external circumstances had contributed to the incident.
As León had not completed a timed lap before the red flag, the Stewards could not immediately delete his fastest lap. They allowed him to continue in the session, although he did so knowing that they could later invalidate the times he set after the stoppage.
The Stewards ultimately deleted all of León’s qualifying times for breaching Article 33.5 of the FIA F2 Sporting Regulations.
Every driver who originally qualified behind León will move forward by one position on both grids. The Stewards have also permitted León to start the Sprint and Feature Races from behind the classified drivers, despite his failure to set a lap within the required 107 per cent margin.
Yellow flag infringements bring further penalties
Fittipaldi received a 10-place grid penalty after the Stewards determined that he had failed to reduce his speed sufficiently in a double yellow flag zone during F2 Qualifying at the 2026 Belgian GP.
The Stewards reviewed video footage and mini-sector timing data before ruling that the AIX Racing driver had breached Article 2.5.5(b) of the FIA International Sporting Code. He will serve the penalty in both races.
Villagómez received a five-place grid penalty after failing to slow down under single and double yellow flags. Video footage, GPS evidence and mini-sector timing data showed that the Van Amersfoort Racing driver had not lifted off the throttle while travelling through the affected area.
Shields also received a 10-place penalty for failing to reduce his speed under single and double yellow flags. The evidence showed that the AIX Racing driver remained at full throttle and failed to make a meaningful reduction in speed while passing through a double yellow flag sector.
Both Villagómez and Shields will serve their penalties in the Sprint and Feature Races, creating further changes to the Formula 2 starting order at Spa-Francorchamps.
