F1 star facing SUSPENSION after Italian Grand Prix controversy

Ollie Bearman's controversial penalty at the Italian Grand Prix has left him on the verge of a suspension from F1.

Haas rookie Bearman was slammed with a huge 10-second penalty at Monza following an incident involving Williams driver Carlos Sainz near the end of the race.

The Brit was penalised for causing a collision, with the pair colliding at turns four and five, both suffering damage and spinning off the track.

Both drivers continued in the grand prix, and Bearman's penalty meant he finished 12th, while Sainz finished just outside the points in 11th.

However, the penalty caused much discussion, with it appearing that Sainz turned into the corner as normal despite the fact that Bearman was on his inside. 2016 F1 champion Nico Rosberg even proclaimed on Sky Sports F1, "Carlos Sainz needs to get a penalty!"

Bearman's penalty is not the first time that he has been penalised in his debut season by FIA race stewards, and in fact the 20-year-old is now dangerously close to a ban from F1.

And that's because this latest penalty also came with two penalty points being added to his super licence, taking him up to a total of 10 in the last 12 months.

12 across a 12-month period is enough for an immediate one-race ban from the sport, and the first of Bearman's points do not expire until November 2, meaning that he needs to complete another four race weekends without picking up anymore points.

Have drivers been banned from F1 before?

The deterrent of penalty points came into F1 back in 2014, but surprisingly only one driver has reached the 12-point threshold before. And that was another Haas driver in Kevin Magnussen.

Back in September 2024, he was forced to miss the Azerbaijan GP, and that ban led to Bearman making his second grand prix start as a replacement for Magnussen.

Reigning champion Max Verstappen came very close to a race ban earlier this year, reaching 11 penalty points on his super licence and having to have two completely clean race weekends before any expired.

The Brazilian GP on November 9 will be the first race where Bearman can breath easy knowing two of his points have expired, after he earned them at last year's Brazilian GP for a collision with Franco Colapinto.

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