F3 starlet appears to deliberately send rival into the wall with ‘incredibly dangerous driving’ in Australian Grand Prix practice… but the Alpine junior insists ‘I didn’t do anything strange – I was just on the racing line’
- Nikola Tolsov received a grid penalty of three places and two license points
- Footage shows him making contact with Alex Dunne, who was sent into the barriers
- Dunne was also reprimanded after practice for his own part in the collision
A Formula Three driver appeared to send one of his rivals crashing into the wall after appearing to deliberately crash into them.
Alpine Formula 1 junior Nikola Tsolov was handed a three-place grid penalty and two license penalty points after a collision with Alex Dunne during practice at the Australian Grand Prix.
Footage of the incident shows both cars negotiating a bend with MP’s Dunne in front of Tsolov, before the latter drives alongside and there is a clear left to right movement towards the Irish driver before contact is made.
Dunne then crashes into the racing barriers on the right side of the track, sending pieces of his car flying onto the track, before the practice session was ended by a red flag with two and a half minutes remaining on the clock.
Replays suggest Dunne did some weaving ahead of Tsolov on the track before impact.
Footage shows Nikola Tsolov stopping next to Alex Dunne on a short straight in Melbourne
After some apparent weaving from the MP car, Tsolov appears to make contact with Dunne
Dunne was then sent into the wall as pieces of his car flew, prompting a red flag
“I don’t know what the hell he was thinking there,” a Sky Sports commentator said during the broadcast.
“He went straight into Alex Dunne’s side and put him straight into the barriers. That was incredibly dangerous driving.
“I’m not so sure what the hell he was thinking there. I’m not so sure what that was all about. Red flags have been raised and that is an incident that I am sure will be investigated.
“Alex Dunne stops and he swung in front of him (Tsolov) and Nikola Tsolov pushed him right into the barriers. That’s really not what you want to see.’
Reports suggest that there was an accidental impact on Tsolov just before the crash, although Tsolov denied that the later collision was an intentional act.
However, the stewards’ report appeared to suggest that Tsolov’s move from left to right was unintentional but caused a collision that was otherwise ‘completely avoidable’, the F3 website said.
The stewards alleged that Tsolov: ‘stated that his lap was being affected by the No. 9 car (Dunne) and he wanted the driver to be aware of his presence and that he was being obstructed.
‘Car No. 25 (Tsolov) deviated from its normal racing line and drove close to car No. 9 to emphasize its presence.
Tsolov is in the Alpine F1 junior program and insisted it was not a deliberate act
Stewards punished Tsolov with a three-place grid penalty and two license penalty points
‘Unfortunately he misjudged this action and collided with car number 9.’
Tsolov, meanwhile, told Feeder Series after the practice session that he was confused by Dunne’s ‘weaving’ and did not know how best to pass his rival.
“I was a little confused,” he began. “I arrived on a push lap and I think the MP was weaving so I didn’t know where to go to get past him because he was on a cool lap or something.
‘I went to the left side and just felt a blow under my rear tire. So I think it was just a misunderstanding, but nothing intentional on any part. I think it was just a bit unfortunate.
‘I knew he was there, but then I suddenly felt the blow. I didn’t do anything strange. I was just on the racing line.
MP’s Dunne was also reprimanded by the stewards after the race for his own part in the incident
‘I have no intentions against him. There’s nothing to be gained in a practice session, so I wouldn’t do something like that.’
The F3 website also states that Dunne was also reprimanded by the stewards for his role in the collision, having concluded that he had ‘unnecessarily hindered Tsolov’.