FIA confirm official ruling over F1 team running ONE car at Australian Grand Prix

The FIA have come to a decision over whether the Haas Formula 1 team will have to run just one car at the Australian Grand Prix.

Haas’ 2025 season has gotten off to a nightmare start, with both of their drivers set to start the Australian GP on the back row of the grid.

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The team's new driver Ollie Bearman has had a particularly brutal weekend in Melbourne, where he crashed in FP1 and then spun out into the gravel during FP3.

The damage from Friday’s crash meant he had to make a power unit change and was unable to compete in FP2, with his woes continuing into qualifying where he reported gearbox issues and was forced back into the pits, unable to set a lap time in Q1.

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Bearman in Australian GP shocker

Bearman will now start the Australian GP in last place, but his first weekend of 2025 could have been much worse, with the FIA investigating whether he would be able to start the race at all.

The rulebook used by the sport's governing body states that a driver would be ‘unclassified’ for a grand prix if they fail to set a time in Q1, with the exception that a suitable lap time has been set in a practice session.

Following qualifying, the stewards received a request from Haas to allow Bearman to start the race despite being unable to set a lap time in Q1.

In an official ruling, the FIA have now granted Bearman the ability to start the race in accordance with Article 39.4 of the sporting regulations, as the British driver had already set what they deemed to be ‘satisfactory times’ in practice.

Speaking after qualifying, Bearman apologised to Haas for what he described as a 'messy' weekend, bemoaning his limited running throughout practice.

"It’s a bit disappointing, of course, to not be able to get a lap on the board, but it’s been a messy weekend so far," he said.

"I haven’t run all weekend. That’s made it tough for the guys to actually understand [what’s happening], as we’ve been running with one car all weekend. I can only apologise to the team for that."

READ MORE: FIA issue multiple grid penalties at Australian Grand Prix

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