verstappen, bearman, haas, red bull — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

F1 driver at risk of race ban ahead of Australian Grand Prix

One F1 star will have to be careful in Melbourne

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Accredited motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Wednesday 4 March 2026 21:00

One Formula 1 driver will need to tread carefully at the Australian Grand Prix, as they are on the verge of receiving a race suspension should they fall foul of the rules again.

The FIA race stewards apply disciplinary penalty points for on-track offences, which are recorded on a driver’s Super Licence. If a competitor accumulates 12 points within a 12-month period, it automatically results in a one-race ban.

Once penalty points have been handed out, they remain on the driver’s record for a year before expiring, at which point their total begins to decrease accordingly.

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For one F1 driver, they'll be begging that the 12-month expiry date arrives soon with Haas star Ollie Bearman on 10 penalty points, which puts him just two away from a race ban.

Bearman on the cusp of race ban for Australian GP

The penalty took the Brit's total up to 10 which puts him a perilous position heading into Melbourne, where one infringement could result in the dreaded two penalty points that trigger a race ban.

Indeed it's not just Melbourne where Bearman could encounter a race ban, with the youngster having to wait until May 23 for the two points obtained at last year's Monaco Grand Prix to be cleared off his licence.

This means that Bearman will be vulnerable to a race ban for the opening six rounds of the 2026 campaign and during Friday's sessions in Montreal, before his total reduces to eight on the Saturday at the Canadian Grand Prix.

To use previous examples to demonstrate actions Bearman has to avoid, the FIA have given a driver two penalty points for infringements such as overtaking under red flag conditions, causing a collision, braking erratically under the safety car and failing to slow under double yellow flags, to name a few.

These incidents do not always necessarily trigger two penalty points however, with penalties applied at the stewards discretion given the context and circumstances around an incident.

FIA Haas Ollie Bearman