Rafael Villagómez has been given a 10-place grid penalty for the Sprint and Feature races at the 2026 F2 Miami GP.
Campos Racing driver Nikola Tsolov had ground to a halt with a technical issue in the early stages of practice. Double waved yellows were put out before the red flags appeared to clear the car driven by the Bulgarian.
However, the Van Amersfoort Racing driver did not slow at all through that narrow section on the exit of turn 11 and into turn 12. In fact, he set a personal best mini sector to that point.
FIA stewards on why Rafael Villagómez has been given a 10-place grid penalty for the Sprint and Feature races at the 2026 F2 Miami GP
“The Stewards examined video evidence and GPS evidence.
“They summoned and heard the drivers and team representative (document 11).
“A yellow flag was shown at the entrance to turn 11 and then a double yellow entering turn 12 where there was a stopped car on the outside of the track on the exit. The driver of Car 23 reported that he was aware of both the yellow flag and the double yellow flag and he thought that he had lifted sufficiently. He then reported that after seeing that he was clear of the stopped car he resumed his push lap.
“The mini sector timing data revealed that the driver achieved his fastest time in both mini sectors up to that point in the session. There was no indication that the driver had lifted nor that he had abandoned his lap as is required when passing through a double yellow flag area.
“This is a violation of the regulations and relates to safety. The standard penalty of 10 grid drops is used as the Stewards could find no mitigating circumstances to vary the penalty.
“In keeping with Art 31.5 of the 2026 F2 Sporting Regulations the grid drop penalty will be applied to both the Sprint and Feature races.”
No penalty for Ollie Goethe
The stewards cleared Ollie Goethe after an investigation for the same reason.
“The Stewards examined video evidence and GPS evidence. They summoned and heard the drivers and team representative (document 12).
“A yellow flag was shown at the entrance to turn 11 and then a double yellow entering turn 12 where there was a stopped car on the outside of the track on the exit.
“The driver of Car 10 reported that he was aware of both the yellow flag and the double yellow flag and he thought that he had lifted sufficiently. The mini sector data was reviewed with the driver and after analysis it was determined that the driver had slowed significantly in both mini sectors.
“As a result the Stewards find that the driver acted appropriately and no rule was breached and therefore take no further action.”
