Sebastian Montoya’s Silverstone weekend has taken an early procedural hit after the PREMA Racing driver was disqualified from FIA Formula 2 free practice for a fuel-sample breach.
The official Formula 2 bulletin confirmed that Car 11 was referred to the stewards after the session because the required 0.8kg post-session fuel sample could not be taken. The stewards ruled that the car had breached Article 6.3.1 of the FIA Formula 2 Technical Regulations.
All Montoya practice times removed
The sanction removes every lap time Montoya set in practice and promotes each driver originally classified behind him by one place in the final session order.
It is a sharp setback for a driver already under close attention at Silverstone after his recent Spielberg podium had framed the British round as a chance for PREMA to convert momentum into a cleaner weekend. Read Motorsport had already examined why Montoya’s Silverstone F2 test carried added weight after Austria.
The penalty does not directly alter the race grids, which are set by qualifying, but it strips Montoya and PREMA of an official practice classification on a circuit where early references matter. Silverstone’s high-speed layout rewards commitment through Copse, Maggotts and Becketts, while F2 teams also need clean data on tyre preparation and balance before the weekend compresses into qualifying and two races.
For Montoya, the immediate task is containment. The pace can still be recovered on track, but the margin for operational error has already narrowed before the competitive sessions that decide the points.
Source: FIA Formula 2.
