FIA bans disgraced kart racer Luca Corberi for 15 years

Disgraced Italian karter Luca Corberi has received a 15-year ban from all FIA competition for his actions in last year’s FIA KZ karting world championship final.

The 23-year-old was filmed crossing the track and throwing the front bumper of his kart at another driver while the race was taking place following a crash.

After the race, which took place at the South Garda Karting circuit owned by the Corberi family last October, he then proceeded to attack rival Paolo Ippolito in the paddock.

Footage of the incident was shared across social media and Corberi faced widespread condemnation for his behaviour, most notably from the likes of ex-F1 drivers Jenson Button and Felipe Massa, who is now FIA karting president.

In response, Corberi vowed he would never race again while the FIA announced it was launching an investigation into the incident.

The FIA wanted the International Tribunal to hand out a lifetime ban over what it described as a “violent assault”, but after assessing all of the evidence and reviewing three separate incidents, the panel concluded that Corberi should be banned from all FIA-sanctioned competition for 15 years.

The decision, released on Monday, stated that Corberi’s actions were “extremely serious and could have resulted in injuries for any of the drivers participating in the race (including himself).”

It continued: “The tribunal decided that a 15-year sanction would be adequate and proportional, since such a sanction clearly reflects the gravity of the facts and the violence involved.

“This sanction is one of the most serious sanctions that the tribunal can impose. No other sanction would be able to achieve the envisaged goals and general and specific deterrence and rehabilitation to the same degree - as such, this measure is necessary.”

You can read the verdict in full here.