Ollie Bearman Slapped with 10-Place Grid Penalty for Monaco GP

By Lavesh Pillay

Haas F1’s young Brit, Ollie Bearman, will be starting the Monaco Grand Prix weekend on the back foot after being handed a hefty 10-place grid penalty for a red flag breach during practice.

Bearman, stepping in as Haas’s rookie, was seen overtaking Carlos Sainz during a red flag period brought on by Oscar Piastri’s crash in Friday’s second practice. TV replays made it pretty clear: Bearman passed Sainz under the red flag, and that was always going to catch the stewards’ attention.

After reviewing the footage and hearing from both Bearman and a Haas team rep, the stewards were left with no option. Their verdict? The rookie was too slow to react—despite being informed by his team rather late, Bearman had both a dashboard warning and a flashing red flag light panel right in front of him. According to the regulations (yep, the dreaded Article 2.5.4.1 b)), drivers are meant to immediately reduce speed and head back to the pits, and overtaking is absolutely not allowed.

Bearman argued that slamming the brakes would have been more dangerous, so he kept going to play it safe. The stewards didn’t buy it, saying the point of the rule is to ensure safety, especially at a place like Monaco, where blind corners and tight walls make red flag situations extra risky.

So, with no mitigating factors, Bearman gets a 10-place grid penalty and two penalty points on his licence—meaning he’s going to have to fight hard just to make it to the points on Sunday. He’s not the only one with a penalty heading into qualifying either, with Lance Stroll also carrying a sanction from an FP1 incident.

Monaco qualifying just got even more interesting.

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