F3: Dennis given Monza grid penalty

Double Pau Formula 3 European Championship race winner Jake Dennis has been hit with a five-place grid penalty for the next round at Monza.

After winning the first two races, Dennis lost the lead of the final – which carried the Pau Grand Prix title - with five laps remaining with a bent front-left trackrod, and then dropped down the order as the car's condition worsened. By the last lap the trackrod had collapsed, and Dennis collided with Sam MacLeod at the Lycee hairpin as the Scot attempted to take ninth position.

Rene Rosin, boss of the Prema Powerteam squad that runs Dennis, said: "On the last lap he was frustrated and crashed with MacLeod.

"From looking at it we can't see whether it's Jake's fault or just an accident, but the stewards said that if you have broken suspension you have to step aside."

The damage to the trackrod, sustained in the early stages of the race, was consistent with having hit a curb, although Dennis claimed that he had not done anything differently.

Originally on Autosport.com