Alex Dunne has lost out on his FIA Formula 2 feature race victory at the Belgian Grand Prix after being hit with a 10-second penalty.
The Offaly driver had crossed the line first in Sunday's wet-weather race that began behind a safety car at the legendary Spa circuit to reclaim the lead in the F2 drivers championship but was subsequently demoted for failing to engage the start set-up procedure.
The penalty dropped Dunne down to 10th in the final race classifications, with Red Bull junior driver Arvid Lindblad inheriting the victory.
It means the 19-year-old Rodin driver stays fourth in the drivers' standings, ten points behind Leonardo Fornaroli, who is in turn one point ahead of Richard Verschoor.
The turn of events will be a blow to Dunne who had looked to be on course for a gainful weekend having scorched to pole position on Friday, more than four-tenths of a second clear of Japanese driver Ritomo Miyata.
The McLaren development driver has won two feature races this year in Bahrain and at Imola, and recently became the first Irish driver to feature in a Formula One grand prix session for 22 years when he took part in Friday first practice ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix.
There are five rounds of competition left before the concluding race at Yas Island in December.
