Oliver Bearman gets 10-place grid drop for ignoring red flags at F1 British GP

Oliver Bearman has been hit with a 10-place grid penalty for ignoring red flags in the Formula 1 British Grand Prix’s third free practice session, which coincided with his pitlane crash.

Bearman lost control of his Haas and hit the wall on the entry into the pitlane in FP3, while pitting for a red flag produced by Gabriel Bortoleto’s accident as he suffered a snap through the Maggotts and Becketts corners and ended up in the gravel with broken suspension.

When Bearman hit the wall when returning to the pits, he knocked off the majority of his car’s nose and forced other drivers to take evasive action.

After his remonstrated with himself over the radio – annoyed that he’d tried to push the pit entry with cold brakes – the stewards investigated the incident.

The FP3 session had previously been red flagged by a piece of debris from Bearman’s car; a piece of his outer floor fence had broken free of his VF-25 chassis, and came to rest in the middle of the track.