A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.
Oliver Bearman's points scoring race after starting the sprint race dead last with only Yuki Tsunoda behind him, has been derailed by a mistake by Haas.
A pitlane incident, much like that of Max Verstappen and Andrea Kimi Antonelli, saw Bearman released onto the path of incoming Sauber driver, Nico Hulkenberg.
The stewards reviewed the footage and onboard videos of the incident and deemed Bearman deserving of a penalty. Hulkenberg had to take evasive action, and thus Bearman is handed a 5-second time penalty, extricating him from the top 8, the only places that give out points during a sprint.
Why did Verstappen receive a heavier penalty?
Despite the fact that Verstappen's unsafe release was quite similar to that of Bearman the Dutchman received a 10 second time penalty, as opposed to the British driver's 5 seconds.
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The FIA Stewards have long since argued that the consequences in an incident are not taken into account when handing out penalties, so the discrepancies between the how the two similar incidents were handled it is not yet known.
Further penalties may still follow from the Miami sprint race. Fernando Alonso, Liam Lawson, and Alexander Albon were all summoned by the stewards. Albon finished the sprint race in fourth place, Lawson in seventh. Both could lose their points should penalties be applied.
Yuki Tsunoda is the beneficiary of Bearman’s penalty. The Japanese driver finished ninth, but with Bearman’s penalty, Tsunoda now gains a point for the race which he started from the back.
FIA document regarding Oliver Bearman's penalty
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