Oliver Bearman hit with massive grid penalty at F1 Monaco Grand Prix

Haas rookie Oliver Bearman’s first Monaco Grand Prix as a Formula 1 driver has become much tougher for him. The driver was given a massive ten-place grid penalty following an incident that occurred during Friday’s second practice session on the streets of Monte Carlo.

Bearman was summoned by race officials after FP2, with stewards hoping to speak with him about an incident that occurred midway through the second practice session. After Oscar Piastri’s crash brought out the red flag, replays seemed to show Bearman trying to overtake Carlos Sainz Jr. under red-flag conditions.

After stewards heard from Bearman and a team representative, as well as footage and data were reviewed, race officials announced a ten-place grid drop for the rookie driver.

According to the decision from race officials, Bearman’s explanation for the incident focused on the split-second decision he faced. As noted in the report the “driver claimed that he saw the red flags but decided not to slow down abruptly because he felt that slowing down abruptly would have been more dangerous and that what he did was a safer way of handling the situation.”

Race officials dismissed that claim, first noting that “[w]ell prior to the overtake, the session had been red flagged. The team informed the driver rather late, just before the overtake happened. However, it is clear from the video footage that there was a light panel directly in front of the driver which showed the red flag; and the dashboard also indicated the red flag well before the overtake took place.”

Referring to the International Sporting Code, the stewards noted that Article 2.5.4.1 b requires that a driver “immediately” reduce speed and proceed slowly back to their respective pit stall once a red flag is displayed. In addition, the regulations clearly state that under a red flag, “overtaking is forbidden,” and that drivers must bear in mind that “race and service vehicles may be on the track.”

Race stewards further noted that they “disagreed with his decision to not take steps to slow down sufficiently to avoid overtaking another car and insteed proceeding slowly back to the pits,” as is necessary under the rules.

The officials then made it clear the whole purpose behind the red flag rules, as well as why those are particularly important in Monaco.

“The whole purpose of requiring drivers to slow down immediately is for safety — they will not know what is in front of them or the reason for the red flag being shown. This is particularly so in a track like Monaco.”

Finding there was not a “mitigating factor,” officials handed down a substantial ten-place grid penalty, as well as an imposition of two penalty points on Bearman’s FIA Super License.

That brings Bearman’s total to four penalty points after he was given two penalty points at the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix for causing a collision with Franco Colapinto. Drivers who receive 12 penalty points during a single calendar year are given a one-race suspension.