Italian Grand Prix: Ferrari star handed podium demotion after FIA penalty

Photo: © IMAGO

Italian Grand Prix

Ferrari star demoted from Monza podium after FIA penalty

The Italian GP is home to F1 and its multiple feeder series this weekend

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Saturday 6 September 2025 19:56

A Ferrari star has been struck down by a five-second penalty in front of the tifosi this weekend at the Italian Grand Prix.

The iconic Autodromo Nazionale Monza hosts F1 this weekend for the 16th round of the 2025 campaign, alongside feeder series' F2 and F3.

On Saturday, Ferrari Academy Driver Dino Beganovic gave the passionate fans of the Scuderia something to cheer for ahead of Sunday's events, crossing the line in P3 during the F2 Monza Sprint Race.

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But the Hitech TGR driver was hit with an FIA penalty after the stewards declared he had committed a Virtual Safety Car infringement.

As a result, Beganovic was slapped with a five-second penalty and was demoted to P4, meaning AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen was promoted to claim the final spot on the sprint podium.

Ferrari penalty causes F2 sprint shake-up

As is the case in F1, the driver pack is fiercely competitive in F2 and the fine margins of Saturday's sprint times proved this.

After the five seconds were applied to Beganovic's sprint race time, Richard Verschoor moved up to fourth ahead of Roman Stanek in fifth, with Beganovic ending up all the way down in sixth.

However, the Ferrari star can return to Monza with a fresh start on the cards come Sunday, with the F2 feature race starting grid set by the results of the final classification of Friday’s qualifying session.

The 21-year-old Ferrari junior will therefore line up 10th on Sunday morning, before the stars of F1 take to the track for what is set to be a thrilling Italian GP.

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