Merhi banned after causing Formula Renault crash

Roberto Merhi has been excluded from starting a Formula Renault 3.5 race after causing a dangerous crash on Sunday.

The Manor driver is racing for PONS Racing in World Series when his F1 commitments allow, and was involved in a big crash at the end of the opening race at the Red Bull Ring on Sunday morning when he slowed across the finish line. Nicolas Latifi - racing for fifth place - crashed in to the rear of Merhi's car at high speed and was sent rolling across the track.

While both drivers were unhurt in the incident, Merhi has now been banned by the race stewards for causing the incident, while he was also excluded from the results of the opening race.


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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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