FIA confirm McLaren youngster penalty in Belgium as race winner changes TWICE

FIA penalty at Spa-Francorchamps — Photo: © IMAGO

FIA

FIA confirm McLaren youngster penalty in Belgium as race winner changes TWICE

A McLaren star has been dealt a major blow

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Sunday 27 July 2025 17:20

The FIA have confirmed two penalties that have changed the winner of the Formula 2 feature race at the Belgian Grand Prix, not once, but twice.

Originally, McLaren-backed driver and youngster Alex Dunne stunned the field to take a victory in wet weather conditions, with Arvid Lindblad coming home in second and Roman Stanek securing third.

However, the FIA confirmed that Dunne had received a 10-second penalty for failing to engage the start set-up procedure on the formation lap of the feature race.

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As a result, Dunne dropped to 10th place, and Red Bull junior Arvid Lindblad was promoted to the race victory...except the FIA had other ideas.

Lindblad was later disqualified from the feature race for having too low tyre pressures in all four tyres and Stanek subsequently inherited the win.

The official top three from the F2 feature race are as follows: Roman Stanek, Ritomo Miyata and Luke Browning.

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If he had not received the penalty, Dunne would lead Richard Verschoor by over 15 points in the standings after he qualified on pole at Spa by 0.421 seconds and picked up two further points.

However, after the penalty Dunne currently sits fourth in the F2 drivers' standings, but does not represent the strong season the Irish driver has enjoyed in 2025.

Following his FP1 debut with McLaren at the Austrian GP, Dunne's title hopes were dealt a major blow after he finished the feature race in second but was stripped of the position.

The 19-year-old was then disqualified for a technical infringement; but it speaks to his star power this season that he has managed to remain in championship contention.

Dunne's performance in F1 also impressed the paddock in Austria, where he sat the fourth fastest time in the McLaren during FP1 and was not far behind championship leader Oscar Piastri.

The Irishman is now only 11 points behind F2 championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli.

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