Oliver Bearman given 10-place grid penalty for red flag infringement at British GP
5th July 2025Haas’ Oliver Bearman has been given a 10-place grid penalty for his red flag infringement during the final hour of practice at the British Grand Prix.
Feature image credit: Haas F1
At his first home race weekend as an F1 driver, Bearman has been given a grid penalty for attacking the pit entry line during the second of two late red flags in free practice 3.
After the first red flag, due to his bodywork being stranded out on track, the final hour of practice was red-flagged for a final time when Kick Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto broke his suspension at Becketts.
The Brazilian went into a spin at the iconic Maggots and Becketts section, losing control at the latter section, and ran backwards over a bump on the grass. The bump damaged the Sauber driver’s suspension, and he retired from practice in the gravel trap.
Due to the lateness of the red flag, a resumption was not possible, and Bearman raced towards the pit entry, which is common practice in preparation for the grand prix.
However, the Briton’s brakes were cold and he was sent into a spin and into the barrier, losing his nose in the process. Bearman was able to continue on towards his pit box following the incident.
Leclerc tops final practice at British GP after late red flags
The stewards reported that Bearman had slowed down but returned to race pace towards the pit entry, accelerating up to 260kph. They said:
“The race was red flagged at 12.33:57. Car 87 had slowed down for the red flag and as he was approaching Turn 15 accelerated significantly to race pace and entered the pit entry road at 260kph. He lost control of the car in the pit entry road and crashed into the barriers.
“Art. 37.6 (a) of the Formula One Sporting Regulations and Art. 2.5.4.1(b) of Appendix H of the International Sporting Code require that when a red flag is shown ‘all cars must immediately reduce speed and proceed slowly back to the pit lane’.
“It is beyond doubt that the driver of Car 87 did not proceed slowly back to the pit lane when he accelerated to simulate entering into the pit entry road under race conditions. In fact, we looked at a previous in-lap under normal racing conditions and found that he was faster in this lap, under a red flag.
“To make matters worse, he lost control of the car and crashed into the barriers while at speed. The driver informed us that he misjudged the fact that his brakes were not warm because the lap was done slowly, due to the red flag. While this may have been a factor contributing to the crash, we did not consider it to be a mitigating factor.”
In addition to the 10-place grid penalty that he will have to serve at the British Grand Prix, Bearman has been given four penalty points for the incident and that brings his total points up to eight.
He will not be the only driver to serve a grid penalty on Sunday’s race; Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli will serve a three-place grid penalty for his crash with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen in Austria.
Read more Formula 1 here:
- FIA confirm slight update to British GP Race Directors’ event notes
- Lewis Hamilton claims there’s ‘time to find’ at British Grand Prix
- Carlos Sainz given warning after British GP ‘dangerous driving’ infringement
- Norris fastest in British GP FP2 to complete all-British day
- Lewis Hamilton sets fastest time in British GP FP1
- What are the official times for the British Grand Prix?
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Hi, I’m Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion.
I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I’ve loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
Kamron Kent
Hi, I'm Kamron. I created ApexMotorsports.co.uk in the dying embers of the 2021 Formula 1 world championship. It allowed me freedom to write whatever I wanted to write about which was all things motorsports, my passion. I have put a lot of effort in over the years to keep this website in its best shape and I've loved seeing the brand grow consistently, month-on-month, year-on-year. My ambition is to keep watching this brand grow into a primary outlet of news for all things motorsports whilst fueling my desire to pursue a career in sports journalism, specialising in motorsports.
