MIM driver was in full fight with Arthur Leclerc, who was immediately penalized by the Stewards
Monaco Increase driver David Vidales was determined to fight in the Feature Race of the FIA F3 weekend at Catalunya circuit. After winning the Sprint Race on Saturday, Vidales was to start the Sunday 24-lap event from P11 on the grid, according to his qualifying position. At the start, the Campos driver once again was quick to gain one position and enter the point zone. From there, he started to put pressure on Prema’s Arthur Leclerc, while fending off attacks from Franco Colapinto at the back. The race had two safety car interruptions, following crashes by Villagomez and Benavides respectively. At the second restart on lap 15, Vidales chased Leclerc down the pit straight and, even without DRS, he was able to slipstream Arthur’s car and begin an overtaking manoeuvre. But Leclerc’s defense was far too aggressive and both cars ended up off track, with Vidales getting the worst of it as he had to head back for the pits with a punctured tire. Unlike previous incidents this weekend, that had not been sanctioned by the Race Stewards, this time Arthur Leclerc’s move was immediately deemed to be unfair by the Stewards, who needed not wait until the race was over to hand the Prema driver a 5-seconds penalty. Unfortunately, this was of little relief for Vidales, whose race had been ruined when he could have added more precious points to his tally. Nevertheless, the Leòn-born driver is more than ready for next week’s challenge in Monaco, where he will be racing right under the Monaco Increase headquarters.
