Red Bull junior driver Igor Fraga missed the final Formula 3 event of the season after he was not permitted to link up with a different team.
Fraga picked up Red Bull backing for the 2020 campaign and beat fellow junior Liam Lawson to win the Toyota Racing Series title earlier this year.
Fraga linked up with Formula 3 backmarkers Charouz Racing System but picked up only one point across the eight rounds he contested.
Hitech Grand Prix had a vacancy in the wake of Max Fewtrell’s departure prior to the final trio of events, with his seat filled at Spa and Monza by Pierre-Louis Chovet.
Due to clashing commitments Chovet was not set to compete at Mugello and it is understood that Fraga was poised to switch to Hitech, joining fellow Red Bull juniors Lawson and Dennis Hauger.
But Hitech did not fill its #4 car while Fraga did not appear for Charouz, with the team running only Michel Belov and Roman Stanek.
“We left Monza on Sunday afternoon with a driver joining us who had terminated his agreement with the team he was racing with in the current FIA F3 Season,” read a statement issued by Hitech.
“After dialogue Sunday in Monza the team had agreed to release the driver and confirmed he had met all its obligations in order to move across to Hitech.
“Unfortunately in the build-up to the Mugello Grand Prix the team went back on its word and refused to release the driver to move across to Hitech.
“This was an under-hand attempt to force the driver to see out the final round of the championship at Mugello, despite the driver and his sponsor terminating their agreement post-race on Sunday and paying out their contract in full for the season.
“Due to the team withholding that authorisation Hitech was not able to enter the driver for the race weekend.”
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