Alpine Formula 3 driver Nicola Lacorte endured disastrous race weekends in Monaco and Spain, which has left him with a one-round ban.

The FIA was forced into that course of action after Lacorte went further than just hitting the 12-point mark which triggers such a ban, with the Alpine junior picking up 18 penalty points across the last two rounds.

Alpine driver Nicola Lacorte banned for Austria F3 round

Lacorte’s troubles began in Monaco, during qualifying specifically, as the FIA stewards put five penalty points on his licence for failing to respect the black flag which signalled his disqualification from qualifying after receiving marshal assistance at Turn 1 to return to the track.

The Italian – who races for DAMS Lucas Oil and a member of the Alpine Academy since 2023 – carried on in the session, unaware that he had been disqualified.

Lacorte was later given two penalty points for causing a collision with Santiago Ramos in the Monaco sprint race, one which eliminated them both, as Lacorte’s total increased to seven.

The 18-year-old headed to Barcelona looking for a smoother race weekend, but that was out of the window already by qualifying, as he picked up four penalty points for instigating a collision with Jose Garfias.

The stewards noted that Lacorte – on a preparation lap and looking to overtake Garfias – became frustrated after believing he was brake-tested by Garfias, and so moved towards him on the straight between Turns 9 and 10, which led to the contact. The stewards added that Lacorte issued an apology.

That left him on 11 penalty points and on the brink of a suspension, with Lacorte’s situation only worsening as the race weekend progressed.

Adjudged to have been below the minimum delta time at eight consecutive marshalling sectors during a Safety Car period in the Spain feature race, Lacorte was given three penalty points, taking his total to 14 points and triggering his suspension from the upcoming Austria round.

But, the infringements did not stop there.

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Under the penalty points system for F3 drivers, the 12 points are removed from a driver’s total at the point they hit that mark, and so as Lacorte’s 12th point was incurred during the feature race, 12 points were struck off at that stage and his ban was locked-in for Austria.

The stewards confirmed that the 13th and 14th point would stay on his record, meaning Lacorte was now on two, but that quickly increased to five, with three more handed out for further Safety Car delta time infringements through nine consecutive marshalling sectors.

And the penalty points-scoring did not end there.

Lacorte would pick up one further point – taking him to six – after hitting the back of Brando Badoer’s Prema heading into Turn 1 in the closing stages of the feature race.

Lacorte had accused Badoer of making a late move under braking into Turn 1 over team radio, and while the stewards noted that as a contributing factor, they deemed Lacorte wholly at fault for what followed, as he misjudged his braking point and slammed into the back of Badoer.

The suspension means that Lacorte is due to return to Formula 3 action at Silverstone on the first weekend of July.

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