F3: Barnicoat penalized for safety car move

Ben Barnicoat has been relegated from fourth to fifth place in the final Formula 3 European Championship race of the Red Bull Ring weekend for overtaking under the safety car.

The Racing Steps Foundation driver was running sixth when the race went under caution on the third lap, simultaneous with him making a mistake that allowed Sergio Sette Camara past.

Believing that Sette Camara had overtaken him under safety-car conditions, Barnicoat repassed the Brazilian into Turn 1.

"I ran wide and that's how he overtook me," explained Barnicoat, who was ninth on the grid after an off in qualifying that broke his front wing and undertray. "As I was rejoining he overtook me, and I thought it was under the safety car.

"After reviewing it, I was off track and he had the right to overtake me, so I accept the decision."

The penalty follows a puncture in race one that required Barnicoat to pit under the safety car and left him back in 10th, and a non-score in race two following a drive-through penalty for a jumped start.

"I've had a pretty bad weekend," he said. "This [race three] could have been a lot worse."

Other drivers received post-race time penalties for track-limits offences, although the only one affecting the top 10 drops David Beckmann from 10th to 12th, elevating Nick Cassidy to the weekend's final point.

Originally on Autosport.com