New McLaren recruit immediately receives a ban
F1 News
Hitech's Formula 3 driver Martinius Stenshorne signed a deal to join McLaren's Driver Development programme on Thursday after already earning a victory in Australia with a sprint race win. However, news also broke today that Stenshorne has been banned from competing at Silverstone in this year's championship after competing at the circuit last month in the national GB3 series.
FIA verdict bans Stenshrone from Silverstone for 2024
Although the Norwegian is involved in F3 this year and has been signed to McLaren's junior driving programme today, an FIA verdict ruled that Stenshrone will be unable to race at Silverstone this season.
Stenshorne was behind the wheel for Chris Dittmann Racing during the GB3 test at the iconic British circuit on April 25 and 26. He also contested a round of the GB3 series the following weekend. The FIA have said this means the competitor gains an "unfair advantage".
Because of that, a lengthy statement was released by the FIA stating that Stenshrone was in violation of the Formula 3 Sporting Regulations. "No driver entered in the Championship may carry out any type of activity on any track with any type of single-seater car that was designed and/or built to achieve a power-to-weight ratio less than 2.0 kg/bhp. Genuine participation to a Standalone event needs to be explicitly approved by the FIA and Promoter in writing.”
The hearing involved the Norwegian, Hitech, FIA and F3 representatives. It found there was an admin error by the competitor and driver to appropriately notify the FIA of his intention to compete in the series.
“Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that the Driver and the Competitor failed to inform the FIA and the Promoter about the single-seater testing as requested by Article 10.4. Therefore, the Stewards determined that this is a serious breach of the testing regulations with a sporting advantage gain for the driver of Car 15 and decided to Suspend the driver of Car 15 for the 2024 FIA Formula 3 Silverstone Event. In addition, 4 penalty points are to be added to the driver’s record.”