FIA punish racing star for taking to the track without telling them

The FIA have announced a punishment for F2 driver Sebastian Montoya ahead of this weekend's Qatar Grand Prix.

The race weekend at Lusail International Circuit marks the penultimate round in both the F2 and F1 2025 campaigns, with a thrilling title fight set to conclude in both championships.

Montoya, who is the son of seven-time grand prix winner Juan Pablo Montoya, currently sits in 10th in the F2 standings in his maiden campaign in the feeder series.

However, he did not have an ideal start to the weekend in Qatar where he competed for Prema Racing.

After receiving a report from the FIA, the stewards announced that Montoya failed to inform the promoter and the FIA of a recent single-seater testing activity in GB3, and as a result, will have to pay a fine of €10,000.

Payment for the fine which was caused by an admin error must be transferred to the FIA within 48 hours.

Montoya hit by FIA fine ahead of Qatar GP

A statement from the FIA read: “The stewards examined the report received from the FIA and an email from Prema. They summoned and heard the driver and team representative. The FIA Head of F2 and F3 Sporting Matters reported that the driver of Car 9 (Montoya) took part in a GB3 test at Snetterton on 23 & 24 September 2025.

“He also explained that neither the competitor nor the driver informed the FIA about this single-seater activity. The promoter representative confirmed that he was not informed of the single-seater activity of the driver of Car 9.

“The driver of Car 9 explained that his management team organised the test session at Snetterton and there was a miscommunication with his team. The team representative explained that he was unaware of the driver's participation in the GB3 test at Snetterton until after it had taken place.

“Having considered the matter extensively, the stewards determined that this was an administrative error by the driver, who failed to inform his team and the FIA and promoter about the single-seater activity as required by Article 10.5 of the Sporting Regulations.

“Consistent with a previous decision, the Stewards decided to impose a €10,000 fine.”

Article 10.5 of the FIA F2 regulations states: "In order that an FIA observer may be appointed, competitors or drivers must inform the promoter and FIA of any planned single seater activity at least seven days before it is due to commence."

Drivers are then also required to inform the governing body of the specification of the car they will be driving, the name of the driver(s), the nature and location of the activity, the date(s) and intended duration of the activity and the purpose of the activity.

This is not the first time this season that the 20-year-old has been caught out by a bizarre rule, with the stewards also fining Montoya's Prema team €500 after his physio failed to wear long trousers in the pit lane.

READ MORE: How can Lando Norris become F1 world champion at the Qatar Grand Prix?

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