Nico Rosberg fires Oliver Bearman defence as F1 ban looms

Nico Rosberg has jumped to the defence of Haas' Oliver Bearman following the Italian Grand Prix, insisting his penalty was undeserved. 

Bearman was handed a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points for being deemed at fault for causing a collision with Carlos Sainz, putting the Briton on the brink of a race ban. 

The F1 rookie has accumulated 10 penalty points, and must get through the next four races before any points are removed from his super licence. 

Should Bearman receive two penalty points in Azerbaijan, Singapore, the United States or Mexico, he will be handed a one-race ban.

Bearman and Sainz's incident took place at the Turn 4/5 chicane, with Sainz having attempted an overtake around the outside. 

While Sainz was half a car length's ahead, Bearman remained on his inside defending the position before contact spun the duo. 

According to the 2016 world champion, Bearman deserved to be given more space by Sainz, something Rosberg is convinced would have seen a collision avoided. 

"Oliver Berman has half a car's length in there, half a car's length! It's not like he has just a front wing in there or something," Rosberg told Sky F1.

"That's a significant amount of car in there. Why doesn't Carlos Sainz just leave a bit of space? Give me a reason. 

"He's [Bearman] in there, so leave some space, and then nothing happens and it's all good."

Bearman left no room

Rosberg was not alone in believing Bearman was unfairly punished, with British racing driver Jamie Chadwick having agreed that the penalty was not the correct decision. 

In Chadwick's eyes, the incident could have been avoided entirely had Sainz given Bearman more room, a similar situation compared to Yuki Tsunoda's and Liam Lawson's clash at the same chicane.

"It shouldn't have been a 10-second penalty for Oliver Bearman at all, to be honest, because I don't know where he's meant to go," questioned Chadwick, also on Sky F1.

"I think the incident could have been avoided, I think for both of them. I think that's the situation, these midfield fights similar to the one with Yuki [Tsunoda] and Liam [Lawson]. 

"They're just situations that can be avoided by one driver or another. They don't need to have these kind of awkward pinch points. In that instance, I think Carlos probably could have given a bit more room."