Hadjar stripped of Melbourne sprint victory, Roman Stanek promoted to first F2 win

Isack Hadjar has been stripped of his victory in the Formula 2 sprint race at the Australian Grand Prix after being found at fault for the start-line crash with Pepe Martí and Gabriel Bortoleto.

Roman Stanek and Isack Hadjar on the podium at the Australian Grand Prix. (Joe Portlock/Formula Motorsport Limited/Getty Images)

Hadjar finished with a six-second lead but denied he had pulled away from the chasing pack to mitigate a potential penalty.

The FIA stewards found that Hadjar had been “predominantly to blame” for the collision which ended the race of his teammate and Bortoleto, giving him a 10-second penalty.

The French driver told the stewards he had not seen that his teammate was beside him.

The penalty drops him to sixth in the final results, with second-place finisher Roman Stanek inheriting the victory, his first win in the category.

Stanek took second after a resounding defensive effort to keep a gaggle of faster cars behind him throughout the race.

Dennis Hauger is promoted to second, with Kush Maini completing the podium.

Ferrari F1 reserve driver Ollie Bearman also received a 10-second penalty for forcing another driver off the track.

The stewards ruled that he was responsible for forcing PHM AIX Racing driver Joshua Dürksen off the track at turn four while attempting to overtake him.

“He did not leave a fair and acceptable width […] at the exit of the corner,” wrote the stewards.

The penalty dropped him from eighth, the final points-paying position, to 14th in the final order.

Watch every race of the FIA Formula 2 season on Kayo Sports.