Formula 2 driver Sebastian Montoya has been fined €500 by FIA stewards after his sister, Paulina, wore a short white dress in the pit lane at the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid. The outfit was deemed to be in breach of FIA sporting regulations.
Montoya, 21, is competing in the Spanish GP for Prema Racing, an event held in the same city as the Formula 1 race. Following Friday's qualifying session, which Montoya failed to complete, the Prema driver was sanctioned after a female guest was spotted without trousers in the restricted working lane beside his car.
Guest attire violation
The woman, identified as Paulina, watched her brother race in F2 while wearing the short white dress. In a social media post, she marked her birthday with the caption: "Bye bye teens #20." Followers quickly flooded the comments section to highlight the fine, with one asking: "Who's going to pay the fine?"
Stewards confirmed that Paulina's attire had violated Article 22.15 of the FIA F2 Sporting Regulations, which requires all team and technical personnel in the pit lane to wear long trousers throughout practice sessions and races. Paulina was, however, simply a guest of her brother and not part of the Prema team.
Stewards' decision
Despite the explanation that Paulina was a guest, regulations require competitors to be responsible for the conduct of those they grant access to restricted areas. This means guests fall under FIA regulations, and, following an examination of video footage, a fine was imposed.
An FIA statement read: "The Stewards summoned (Document 19) and heard the team representative. They examined video evidence. The team representative explained that the woman wearing shorts was a guest of the team and not an operational team personnel member.
"The Race Director reminded the following to all the Competitors in Competition Notes in Madrid (art 11.1). Teams are reminded that guests are included in the category as defined in Article 20 of the ISC. Additionally, Article 9.15 of the ISC states that the competitor is responsible for all acts or omissions on the part of any person to whom the competitor has allowed access to the reserved area.
"Furthermore, 'Article 22.15 of the Sporting Regulations states all team and technical personnel must wear long trousers in the pit lane during all practice sessions and the races. Having considered the matter extensively, the Stewards determined that a team member of Car 11 near the car was not wearing long trousers during the session and therefore decided to fine the team €500."
Qualifying disruptions
Qualifying was disrupted by three red flag stoppages, with Montoya among the drivers caught up in the incidents. Dino Beganovic claimed pole position for the feature race, with Alex Dunne and Rafael Camara completing the front row.
Montoya was left without a classified position in the final standings following the succession of red flags, having recorded a lap time of 2.14.210. The F2 Grand Prix is scheduled to get underway at 10.25am UK time on Sunday, before the F1 race at Madring later that afternoon.
