Fuoco labels F2 grid penalty a "joke"

The Italian received the punishment for failing to serve a five-second penalty during the sprint race at Budapest last weekend, which he was handed for speeding in the pitlane. 

Fuoco didn’t take the five-second penalty in the pits as per the regulations as he and his Charouz team thought it would be added to his race time.

“It’s not nice,” said Fuoco. “I don’t want to say anything bad about the stewards. 

“You can see also what they have done today [the three-place grid penalty], I think it’s a joke.”

Fuoco’s speeding penalty came after he hit the Carlin car of Sergio Sette Camara, who had backed off to remain under the virtual safety car delta time just as Fuoco sped up.

He was left with nowhere to go given the closing speeds, and broke his front wing, robbing him of fifth. 

“I think Sergio started to push and then went negative on the delta and he slowed down,” added Fuoco. “For me it was on the limit, but the stewards decided there was nothing further. 

“But I think it was on the limit, maybe a bit too much on the limit. I think I could have finished on the podium.”

Fuoco was also involved in an incident with Sette Camara in the feature race in Hungary, as the Brazilian made contact with him at the penultimate corner and pitched Fuoco into a spin.

Sette Camara was given a 10-second penalty that dropped him to seventh, while Fuoco survived the clash and eventually came third behind Nyck de Vries and Lando Norris.

“I spoke with him and he said sorry,” said Fuoco of the incident. “I was lucky as I took the clutch [to avoid a stall]. 

“It’s a big joke because 10 seconds is nothing for him, because then he finished P7 and he could finish on the podium. 

"I think the stewards need to understand a bit more.”