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Vandoorne gets 24-second time penalty after offence in Diriyah ePrix

Vandoorne gets 24-second time penalty after offence in Diriyah ePrix

28-01-2023 18:47 Last update: 19:21
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GPblog.com

This Formula E season is going considerably worse for reigning world champion Stoffel Vandoorne than the previous one. The DS Penske driver was handed a hefty time penalty for 'improper use of his attack mode' in the second ePrix of Diriyah.

Hefty time penalty for Vandoorne

Vandoorne was not on course for points at the second ePrix of the weekend, but suffered another disappointment. He was handed a drive through penalty for 'improper use of his attack mode', but because the penalty was only applied at the end of the race, it was converted into a time penalty.

That time penalty is not economical: Vandoorne can add no less than 24 seconds to his finishing time. The stewards reportedly penalised the Belgian driver for only activating his attack mode once, when he should have done so twice. The penalty drops him to P20, but it does not affect his position in the championship. There, Vandoorne is currently fifteenth with one point, which he gained in the opening race in Mexico.

To activate attack mode, drivers have to take the corner wide at a certain point, losing time initially but having extra energy at their disposal in the minutes that follow. In total, drivers have four minutes of attack mode and they get to choose how many minutes of it they deploy at a time.