Ollie Bearman admitted he was “really, really annoyed” after receiving a 10-second time penalty during the United States Grand Prix sprint, initially fearing he had also been handed a race ban due to his FIA super licence penalty points tally. Bearman was penalized for leaving the track and keeping a lasting advantage while defending P8 from Kimi Antonelli’s Mercedes on lap 14. The sanction dropped the Haas driver from a potential points finish to P15 and last of the finishers.
Bearman, already on 10 of the maximum 12 penalty points, said, “Actually, I thought I had a race ban for a minute, so I was really, really annoyed.” The team quickly reassured him that no penalty points had been given, thus averting a suspension.
Despite the setback, Bearman used his frustration and “fire” as motivation for the main race qualifying—where he secured eighth place on the grid for Sunday’s GP. He described the weekend as an “uphill climb” due to the challenging nature of COTA, his rookie status, the sprint format, and Haas only installing the new upgrade on his car for sprint qualifying.
Reflecting on his achievement, Bearman said, “And with the difficulty, I would say, of this weekend for myself—rookie going into this track on a sprint format, very bumpy circuit and quite unique… and I knew it was going to be a huge challenge. So, to be standing here in P8, I’m really, really proud of myself and what the team have achieved.”
