F1 star left facing race ban risk after penalty at Brazilian GP for 'dangerous' antics

Oliver Bearman moved back to within just three penalty points of incurring a Formula 1 race ban after he was penalised by the stewards at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The Brit was punished for his "potentially dangerous" driving in Saturday's Sprint race while battling on track with Liam Lawson.

It happened on the first lap as Lawson tried to complete an overtake on the Haas driver. They ended up touching at turn four of the Interlagos track, each driver blaming the other for causing the contact with Bearman furious over being spun around and the Racing Bulls driver adamant that he had been pushed off track by his British rival prior to the collision.

Race control noted the incident and the stewards eventually decided to investigate it after the end of the Sprint, clearly keen to hear from both drivers. After doing so, they decided to punish both drivers for separate actions during their duel.

Bearman was found to have driven "in a manner deemed potentially dangerous" on the straight leading up to turn four, where they made contact. He has five seconds added to his final race time and was also given a penalty point, which takes him up to nine in the last 12 months. That means he is now just three away from incurring an automatic race ban.

Explaining the punishment, the stewards said: "After losing momentum at the exit of turn three, Car 87 [Bearman] was approached by Car 30 [Lawson], which had greater speed and was in the process of drawing alongside on the straight towards turn four.

"As Car 30 attempted to move alongside, the driver of Car 87 moved to the left, leaving insufficient room and forcing Car 30 to place two wheels on the wet grass. Although Car 30 managed to keep control and avoid contact, this manoeuvre occurred at high speed and created an unnecessary risk.

The Stewards consider that the move of Car 87 constituted potentially dangerous driving. As no contact occurred and Car 30 was able to maintain control, and considering consistency with comparable previous cases, the Stewards deem a five-second time penalty and one penalty point to be appropriate and proportionate."

As for the contact that followed a few seconds later, Lawson was deemed by the stewards to be the one at fault and was given the same punishment as Bearman, taking the New Zealander to eight penalty points. They explained: "Car 30 attempted to overtake Car 87 on the inside while approaching and through turn four. After the apex, as both cars were exiting the corner, there was contact between the two cars.

"In turn four, Car 30, slightly offset alongside Car 87, moved slightly to the right, while Car 87, following the natural line of the left-hand corner, turned slightly towards Car 30. As a result, the left rear wheel of Car 87 became entangled with the right front wheel of Car 30, causing Car 87 to spin. Both cars were able to continue the race thereafter.

"Video evidence from circuit cameras and onboard footage did not clearly establish whether the front axle of Car 30 was at least momentarily alongside the rear-view mirror of Car 87 prior to the apex, let alone whether this overlap was maintained at the apex - as would be required under the Driving Standards Guidelines for an overtaking car on the inside to be entitled to racing room.

"According to LAW, the collision was a direct consequence of the prior incident that happened on the straight between turn three and turn four, after which Car 30 was struggling with colder and damp left tyres. As a result. LAW stated that he experienced understeer, which caused his car to drift slightly towards BEA's car and resulted in the contact between both cars.

The stewards determined that LAW was predominantly to blame for the collision. However, the stewards take into account the track conditions, the fact that LAW had colder damp tyres and the fact that his front axle was almost alongside the mirror of Car 87 and consider these as mitigating circumstances. The stewards therefore apply a reduction of the standard penalty of 10 seconds to five seconds, combined with one penalty point.