The driver for Trident, Matteo de Palo, was disqualified from the session that determined the starting grid for the penultimate round of the 2026 Formula 3 season, held on Friday morning (the 4th) at the Monza National Autodrome in Italy. The stewards detected, after an inspection, a technical irregularity. As a result, the Italian will start from the last position on the grid in both races of the weekend.
De Palo had qualified in second place on the grid, after leading his group in qualifying. The technical inspection found that the diffuser on the Trident car was 3 millimeters below the height stipulated by the regulations, on only the left side. After listening to representatives of the team, the stewards disqualified the driver, who will start from the back of the grid.
Who benefits from the penalty against De Palo is Gerrard Xie, the Chinese driver for DAMS, who will now start from pole position for the Sprint race. The two Brazilian drivers on this year’s F3 grid also benefited from the penalty: Fernando Barrichello will start ninth in Sunday’s race, which will also see Pedro Clerot in tenth.
The F3 Sprint race is scheduled for 4:30 this Saturday, while the main race begins at 3:15 on Sunday.
