Bearman and Lawson handed one penalty point each for sprint race clashes

Oliver Bearman dropped two penalty points from his licence before the Brazilian Grand Prix but has immediately picked one up again.

The stewards have penalised him for forcing Liam Lawson off the track on the first lap of today’s sprint race. They gave Bearman one penalty point on his licence which moves him up to a total of nine, leaving him just three away from an automatic ban.

The stewards also penalised Lawson for their subsequent collision at turn four, where Bearman spun.

The incident began when Bearman squeezed Lawson to the inside of the straight between the Curva do Sol and Descida do Lago on the first lap. Lawson complained afterwards the Haas driver left him with no room.

“I think he had a bad exit out of [turn] three,” Lawson told the official Formula 1 channel. “I don’t know if he got pushed off but he was quite slow on the straight, so I had a big run.

“I went to go to his left and he just pushed me on the grass. At that point I think you’re asking for an aeroplane crash. We’re doing 300 down the straight and it’s wet.”

The Racing Bulls driver said that moment contributed to their collision at the next corner. “We went into turn four and I had completely wet tyres and struggled for grip and we touched,” he said.

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“It’s lap one, we’re buried anyway, I’m not sure why the high risk. The gap was there when I went for it down the straight and he just kept coming across to the left.”

The stewards agreed with Lawson, ruling Bearman’s move caused “unnecessary risk”.

“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,” they noted. “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, in breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 e) of the International Sporting Code.”

In addition to his penalty points, the stewards gave Bearman a five-second time penalty, which makes no difference to his 12th place finishing position. “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.”

The Haas driver spun after tangling with Lawson as they passed through Descida do Lago. Bearman said “there’s no point in commenting on the lap one turn four incident” in a statement issued by Haas, adding: “it’s done.”

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The stewards held Lawson “predominantly to blame” for that collision and gave him the same penalties as Bearman. He moves onto a total of eight penalty points.

“On the first lap, car 30 attempted to overtake car 87 on the inside (left-hand-side) while approaching and through turn four,” they explained. “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 Lawson, the collision was a direct consequence of the prior incident that happened on the straight between turn three and turn four (see document 40), 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 car 30 was predominantly to blame for the collision.

“However, the stewards take into account the track conditions, the fact that Lawson 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.”

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