Caldwell banned from next round of F2 after another track-limiting penalty RaceFans

Oliver Caldwell has been banned from the next round of the Formula 2 championship at Spa-Francorchamps after incurring 12 penalty points on his licence.

He hit the limit today after stewards discovered he ‘went off the track for no good reason on several occasions’ during the cross-country race at the Hungaroring.

The threat of a ban has hung over Caldwell since the opening round, when he picked up seven penalty points in race two at the Bahrain International Circuit. Five of them concerned repeated breaches of lane limits.

In the races that followed, Caldwell collected further individual penalty points for a series of other incidents such as obstructions and another breach of track limits at the Red Bull Ring.

He received further penalty points after a near miss with a DAMS mechanic in the pit lane at Imola. Caldwell entered the pits in order to complete a second reconnaissance lap before he started, found the fast lane partially blocked by people and equipment and had to take evasive action as the mechanic jumped clearly.

On this occasion, the stewards judged that Caldwell “could and should have done more to avoid making the situation worse”, but noted that “when the pit lane is open, mechanics must avoid vehicles in the fast lane and also take responsibility for it”.

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Caldwell reached 11 penalty points in the Austrian round, meaning he would only avoid a ban if he completed the remaining six double-header events without picking up a single additional penalty point. He has now reached that threshold and his Campos team will need a replacement driver when the series resumes at Spa-Francorchamps after the summer break.

He is the second driver this season to reach 12 penalty points and trigger an automatic ban. Amaury Cordeel was banned from the Silverstone round, reaching the threshold in Azerbaijan, the sixth round of the year. Since his return, Cordeel has already collected four additional penalty points.

Oliver Caldwell’s F2 penalty points

Event	Session	Offense	Sadness	Penalty points
Bahrain	Race two	Out of position at lane 1 of the safety car during the formation lap	10 second stop-and-go penalty	2
Bahrain	Race two	Exceeding track limits at turn four on four occasions	Five second penalty	1
Bahrain	Race two	Exceeding track limits at turn four a fifth time	10 second time penalty	2
Bahrain	Race two	Exceeding track limits at turn four a sixth time	Passage penalty	2
Saudi Arabia	Qualification	Hindered Juri Vips at turn 22 in qualifying	Three-seater grid drop	1
Emilia-Romagna	Race two	Nearly came into contact with a mechanic in the pit lane during a second reconnaissance lap	Three-seater grid drop	1
monaco	Qualification	Hampered Marino Sato from turns one to four	Three-seater grid drop	1
Austria	First race	Exceeded track limits four times	Five second penalty	1
Hungary	Race two	Left the track for no good reason on several occasions	Five second penalty	1

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