F1 star tipped to replace Lewis Hamilton closing in on ban | F1 | Sport
Oliver Bearman now sits just two penalty points away from receiving an F1 race ban after picking up another penalty in Abu Dhabi. Bearman, who has been linked with replacing Lewis Hamilton at Ferrari, was penalised following an incident with Lance Stroll in Sunday’s race.
The 20-year-old was flagged for making “more than one change of direction to defend its position” and was subsequently investigated. Bearman was then handed a five-second time penalty, which dropped him out of the points, while another penalty point was added to his super licence.
As a result of that point being added to his licence, Bearman now has 10 points to his name – and points won’t be disappearing from his licence until midway through the Canadian Grand Prix weekend next May.
Kevin Magnussen became the first driver to be banned for a race by reaching the fateful 12-point mark in September 2024. However, Bearman was left miffed by the call to penalise him at the weekend.
He said: “I don’t know actually. I don’t know why I was penalised, so I need to understand, but overall it was a good race.
“We were obviously pitting on the early side, but we managed to hold them off. With Stroll penalised for more than one change of direction, I broke the tow once, which is allowed in regulation. I defended the inside line. Bit confused as to why I was penalised, honestly.”
In a separate interview with Racing 365, Bearman said: “I didn’t know I wasn’t allowed to break the tow anymore, so that’s strange. I’m not sure why I was penalised.
“Of course, I was moving to defend my position, but I moved to break the tow, which is one separate thing, and then I defended my position.
“I left Lance space. Some of these rulings, we need to understand why they were made.”
Bearman downplayed suggestions last month that he could be the driver to replace Hamilton at Ferrari. The seven-time world champion has endured a dismal season at the iconic team, and there have been suggestions that he might retire.
Hamilton signed off the 2025 campaign with an eighth-place drive at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, a result which ensured the Brit failed to register a single podium finish for the first time in his F1 career. But he has vowed to carry on racing next year.
And responding to the suggestion he is the “heir apparent” to Hamilton, Bearman told Sky Sports F1: “One weekend they’re saying this, but then when the previous weekend doesn’t go well.
“The media like their headlines and stuff like that, and of course it was a great weekend and I’m very happy to have done that, but I’m not really bothered about it.
“I just try and keep my head down, focus on continuing to have those good results and deliver good points for the team as well.”
