Antonio Felix Da Costa has been handed a 30-second post-penalty for his aggressive antics that ended Kevin Magnussen’s race in Round 18 of the British Formula 3 championship.
Da Costa caused drama and controversy at Paul Ricard by lunging up the inside of the race leader on the final corner of the final lap – a move that took his rival out of the race. Felipe Nasr swept past the incident to take victory, with Da Costa the recovering and following him to take 2nd place.
The 30 second penalty drops Da Costa from 2nd to 9th place. Da Costa's view of the Virage du Pont clash with Magnussen was this: “Kevin was much slower than me, and I was going to go for it… My view is that he decided too late not to let me past, or maybe he didn't see me. I don't like to be in this situation; I like Kevin a lot.”
Round 18 winner and championship leader Nasr added: “It was quite a gift for me,” said Felipe. “I knew that those guys were trying too hard. I had the chance earlier on to get Kevin, but I know that Kevin has nothing to lose right now; he's too far back in the championship. He was really aggressive with me and I think went too far, defending too much. I just kept my car clean after that and drove the whole race waiting for a moment to come. It happened in the last corner and I got the win, which is good for me.”
