WSR: Guerrieri title hopes hit after ISR miss Hungary races

The Formula Renault 3.5 Series title hopes of Esteban Guerrieri took a huge blow when his team, ISR, withdrew from last weekend’s round at the Hungaroring.

The Argentinian driver was lying third in the standings, despite missing the race at Monaco earlier in the season, but lost his chance to close in on Mikhail Aleshin and Daniel Ricciardo when the Czech squad was forced to miss the races despite a strong test session.

Guerrieri was fourth and second fastest in Friday’s two sessions, but inspection of his car and that of team-mate Filip Salaquarda by Renault scrutineers unearthed chassis damage which could not be repaired at the track.

"On the grounds of safety we aren't able to get out, it is as simple as that," ISR engineer Peter Berry told autosport.com. "In testing they were both quick, but we can't do anything else.

"There was one tub available, but then there's the amount of work involved and you have then got to say to one of the drivers 'sorry you're not going to drive'. How do you decide that, toss a coin?"

"I'm disappointed for the boys because they're fighting for the championship, we're fighting for the teams' title, and we have already given too many points away this year.

"If you were to look at the underside of the car you would just see a little crack. (Renault Sport) won't sign off that the car is 100 per cent. They're covering themselves for safety, but I've done GP2 and F3 and I've seen worse.

"We had no choice. We're not here to make the numbers up. If you work all through the night for one car, it's possible to make a mistake or do something stupid, and we're competitors."

With Guerrieri’s main title rivals all enjoying strong weekends in his absence, he has now slipped to fourth in the standings, 39 points adrift of leader Aleshin.

Watch World Series by Renault highlights from the Hungaroring on Sunday 11 July at 6:35pm (BST) on Motors TV.


Andy Wilkinson

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