Mahaveer Raghunathan, MP Motorsport, F2, 2019

Raghunathan has enough penalty points for second ban of 2019 after “extremely dangerous” error

Formula 2

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Formula 2 driver Mahaveer Raghunathan has collected enough penalty points to earn his second ban of the 2019 season following an incident the stewards called “extremely dangerous”.

The MP Motorsport driver was given three penalty points on his licence for failing to correctly following the practice start procedure during today’s practice session at Yas Marina.

The stewards issued a stinging criticism of the driver and cast doubt on the evidence he gave at the hearing.

“The driver carried out his practice start with two cars ahead of him on the grid. The driver was advised that this is extremely dangerous behaviour and will not be tolerated by the stewards. The standard of driving should be higher as this is the last event of the season.

“The driver stated that the car in front of his started rolling – this was not the case. After the driver of car 17 passed the first car ahead of him, which was the latest he could have recognised his mistake, he didn’t slow down.”

In addition to his penalty points, Raghunathan has been ordered to start Saturday’s feature race from the pit lane.

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Raghunathan has now amassed a total of 24 penalty points on his licence this year. Drivers are given automatic race bans if they reach 12, and Raghunathan has already served one ban this year, in Austria.

Mahaveer Raghunathan, Formula 2, MP Motorsport, Yas Marina, 2019
Raghunathan has committed a litany of misdemeanours during 2019
Exactly how his latest ban will be applied is unclear. Article 38.3 of the Formula 2 sporting regulations states: “If a driver accrues 12 penalty points he will be suspended for the following event, following which 12 points will be removed.” An F2 event comprises two races. However this weekend is the final event of the current season.

Raghunathan could therefore carry his ban into the first event of the next season he competes in. However the article also states: “Penalty points will remain on a driver’s record until the end of the season after which they will be removed.”

Mahaveer Raghunathan’s F2 penalties

  • Bahrain race two: Passed the chequered flag twice
  • Baku practice: Failed to stop at the weigh bridge when signalled to during practice
  • Baku race two: Overtook another car before the Safety Car line during a restart
  • Monaco race one: Left the track and gained an advantage
  • Monaco race one: Collided with Jack Aitken
  • Monaco race two: Left the track and gained an advantage
  • France race one: Three VSC infringements
  • Belgium qualifying: Yellow flag speeding
  • Russia race two: Left the track and did not follow the instructions about rejoining
  • Abu Dhabi practice: Did not follow practice start procedure

Update: Rules loophole means no ban for Raghunathan despite reaching 12 penalty points again

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    Keith Collantine
    Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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    26 comments on “Raghunathan has enough penalty points for second ban of 2019 after “extremely dangerous” error”

    1. Permanent ban will probably teach him.
      And definitely will make racing safer.

      And he is better be doing something else… grow birds for example.

      1. Couldnt agree more.

    2. This guy is a complete disaster… why can’t he learn from his mistakes? Does he even care about his behavior? Maybe he should get an indefinite ban until he is medically examined by a psychologist.

    3. At this point a permanent ban would be more appropriate.

    4. F2’s Moldonado.

      1. That’s very unfair on Pastor.

        This guy simply has no idea, not a clue about racing etiquette or the rules.

      2. Extremely unfair. Maldonado’s at least quite fast. This guy’s slow as hell and even worse offender than Maldonado.

      3. This guy makes Maldonado look like Senna…

      4. Enough of that already. Pastor Maldonado is a Formula One race winner. one out of only 111 in the history of the sport.

    5. I dont follow lower formulae or know anything about this guy and his past behaviour. But shouldnt there be something written in the regulations for what happens when you accumulate a further 12 points after your first race ban? Obviously he isnt learning from mistakes and if the first 12 points is a race ban, the second 12 should have a more severe penalty. At some stage they need to consider a permanent ban otherwise drivers like this will continue to drive dangerously for as long as they are allowed – which could eventually lead to serious injury, or worse.

    6. 2019 penalty points champion!

    7. He clearly has poor situational awareness!

    8. How does one get 2 bans in a year but still have their racing licence???

      1. That’s what I was thinking!

    9. He has enough points to qualify for a hyperlicense.

    10. I’m pretty sure most team debriefs don’t involve the driver being told “you’ve got to turn the wheel”

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0-N777JFfc

      1. I still laugh about this incident.

      2. Thanks for getting my Saturday off to a laughy start. I’d never seen this before now.

        1. I’m guessing he was late for a race somewhere else

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gNUFkHWSmKc

      3. @bernasaurus, that is hilarious. Now I know who was the driver in this video:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4du48mqOQw

    11. 24 penalty point and 1 championship point. Who is paying for this dangerous waste of a seat!?
      Unless we’re talking family money I can’t imagine why anyone would sponsor him.

      1. Apparently he has been signed by Haas in 2017 and his lower class career was sponsored by Coloni. His graph in F2 2019 seems to have taken downward turn for worse with no signs of recovery.

    12. We used to have a saying ‘keep death of the roads, drive on the pavement’ but now it seems second part should be drive in F2. Permanent ban from all forms of motor sport in my opinion.

    13. Sounds like the perfect guy for a race seat at Williams.

    14. How is this guy still even competing in F2, to begin with, after everything that’s happened so far?

    Comments are closed.