There was a scary moment for Irishman Alex Dunne in F3 free practice from Melbourne overnight, as rival Nikola Tsolov appeared to swerve deliberately and caused Dunne to crash his car.
Dunne is competing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship for the first time this season, after encouraging performances in junior series over the past three years.
The championship serves as both a feeder series and support series for Formula 1, and the second round of the F3 season takes place this weekend at Albert Park, as a support race to the F1 Australian Grand Prix.
Dunne and his fellow F3 racers were the first to get on track late last night - but the Offaly native's session was ended early by a dangerous move from Tsolov which has online fans fuming.
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F3 rival swerves to crash into Irishman Alex Dunne
As the F3 practice session was nearing its end overnight, Alex Dunne was on a slow lap with Bulgarian driver Nikola Tsolov fast approaching behind.
Dunne attempted to move out of the way on the straight but, in a moment of indecision, was forced to change his path to avoid obstructing Tsolov's path.
The Bulgarian evidently took issue with the moment of misunderstanding, as he went on to inexplicably pull alongside Dunne and swerve to the right to bump the Irishman's front wheels and send him towards the barrier.
"I don't know what on earth he was thinking" 😳
A scary moment between Nikola Tsolov and Alex Dunne in F3 practice 👇 pic.twitter.com/diHxZe14xC— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 22, 2024
It was an indefensible move for any racing driver. Thankfully for Alex Dunne, he emerged from the car unscathed, but he was unable to take any further part in the practice session.
The F3 stewards handed Tsolov a three-place grid penalty as punishment for his involvement in the incident, saying: "his actions, while unintended, caused a collision that was completely avoidable."
Such an explanation will likely not wash over Irish fans - or, for that matter, any reasonable racing fans. The description of his move as "unintended" would appear farcical, with even the untrained eye able to see that Tsolov clearly moved off the racing line and deliberately hit Alex Dunne.
Indeed, the detailed stewards' report accepted such a fact, admitting that Tsolov had deliberately driven towards Dunne:
[Tsolov] stated that his lap was affected by car #9 [Dunne] and he wanted the drive to be aware of his presence and that he was being impeded.
Car #25 [Tsolov] deviated from his normal racing line to drive close to car #9 to highlight his presence.
He unfortunately misjudged this action and collided with car #9.
Serious questions must be asked about why Tsolov only received such a lenient penalty for the incident, after pulling one of the most dangerous moves a racing driver can. There can be no excuse for making such a hostile move on track and causing another driver to hit the wall on any part of the track, let alone at the end of one of the circuit's longest straights.
Far less severe incidents have received harsher penalties in recent seasons. In the aftermath of the penalty decision, fans online were in disbelief.
FIA gave a 10s time penalty here for gaining advantage by leaving the track
FIA gave Tsolov a 3 grid place penalty today for intentionally crashing into other carpic.twitter.com/Yj1rfe4fR7— Holiness (@F1BigData) March 22, 2024
Horrific behavior by Tsolov in F3 Practice. Intentionally crashed out Alex Dunne pic.twitter.com/YQJwF8E6jT
— unbiased IMSA fan (@markwebbah) March 21, 2024
Tsolov has just ruined his own career lol pic.twitter.com/ggSehaObxF
— Måns🇸🇪 (@Havertzo) March 21, 2024
If ever there was a case to warrant DSQ from the rest of the weekend this is it! Horrendous stuff from Tsolov against @alexdunneracing in @Formula3 practice. pic.twitter.com/Tcpmcy23hD
— Barry Rabbitt (@Barry_Rabbitt) March 21, 2024
Alex Dunne received a reprimand for the incident, after the stewards adjudged that he "unnecessarily impeded Tsolov and potentially may have affected his lap."
Speaking to Balls.ie last month, Dunne said that Melbourne was the race he was most looking forward to from his maiden Formula 3 season. It has been a tough weekend so far, with the Clonbullogue native lining up in P17 for both races after qualifying overnight.
The F3 sprint race from Australia takes place on Friday night Irish time, with lights out just after midnight. The feature race gets underway late on Saturday night Irish time - start time is 22:05. Hopefully Alex Dunne can make up some positions and add to the points he won in round one in Bahrain.
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