FIA announce major penalty verdict after F1 star commits 'forbidden' act at Monaco Grand Prix

ollie bearman, haas, fia — Photo: © IMAGO

Monaco Grand Prix

FIA announce major penalty verdict after F1 star commits 'forbidden' act at Monaco Grand Prix

An F1 star has been slammed with a huge penalty ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Friday 23 May 2025 21:56

The FIA have announced a huge penalty for a Formula 1 star at the Monaco Grand Prix after the stewards chastised them for committing a 'forbidden' act on track.

Friday's practice sessions at the Monaco GP were full of drama with Isack Hadjar crashing twice in FP2, and championship leader Oscar Piastri also colliding with the barriers during the session.

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The McLaren star's crash brought out a red flag, but it was an incident involving Ollie Bearman that caught the attention of the stewards when the session was paused.

Onboard footage showed the Haas driver overtaking the Williams of Carlos Sainz during red flag conditions, a move that resulted in the Brit being summoned to the stewards after FP2.

Bearman has now been slammed with a major 10-place grid drop for Sunday's race, which will ruin his whole weekend and force him to start near the back of the field, at a track where overtaking is practically impossible.

Bearman was further hit with two penalty points, and as the official verdict was announced, the stewards highlighted the danger of his red flag overtake with the rookie's punishment.

It was also the attention-grabbing wording of the FIA's penalty confirmation that highlighted the seriousness of his violation, where the stewards reminded the drivers of the rules and emphasised the importance of safety, especially at an unforgiving track like Monaco.

The announcement stated: "The regulations require the drivers to ‘immediately’ reduce speed and proceed slowly back to their respective pits (Article 2.5.4.1 b)).

"The same regulations caution drivers of the fact that in a red flag situation, ‘overtaking is forbidden’ and that drivers should ‘remember that race and service vehicles may be on the track’.

Bearman hit with major grid drop for Monaco Grand Prix

The 20-year-old defended his actions, arguing that if he had slowed down abruptly during red flag conditions it would have been more dangerous.

However, the stewards dismissed this reasoning and clearly stated the whole purpose of requiring drivers to slow down immediately is for safety, as a driver does not know what is in front of them during a red flag period.

The stewards also emphasised that this was especially the case at a track like Monaco, and refused to accept any mitigating factors from Bearman.

Sunday's race does not bode well for Bearman with the Brit only managing P15 in both FP1 and FP2, which - if replicated in qualifying - will ensure he starts the Monaco GP plum last.

Bearman has now joined Aston Martin star Lance Stroll in being handed a grid penalty ahead of Sunday as the Canadian driver was also slapped with a one-place grid drop for the main event in Monaco.

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Red Bull Max Verstappen McLaren FIA Formula 1 Oscar Piastri