Bad luck for Oliver Bearman! The British driver has been handed a ten-place grid penalty for the British Grand Prix on Sunday. The Haas driver was penalised for his spin at the entrance of the pit lane at the end of FP3. The stewards issued Bearman the penalty because the incident occurred during a red flag situation and the rookie had not sufficiently reduced his speed.
The red flag was waved following Gabriel Bortoleto’s late spin during the final practice session before qualifying at Silverstone. The Brazilian went off the track and subsequently came to a halt in the gravel. With only a few minutes left on the clock for FP3, the session was halted and not resumed. All drivers had to return to the pit lane, but that’s where things went wrong for Bearman. Due to cold brakes, the young rookie lost control of his Haas car and hit the barrier at the entrance of the pit lane.
Grid Penalty
The rookie immediately apologized to his team after the incident. Max Verstappen was driving behind Bearman at the time and witnessed the crash. “Oh my god, someone just crashed at the entrance of the pit lane,” said the four-time world champion over the radio. Due to the unfortunate incident and the subsequent grid penalty, Bearman can do no better than an eleventh starting position for his first home race.
The moment can be seen here:
