Oliver Bearman avoids race ban despite latest F1 incident

Oliver Bearman was handed another penalty in F1 but has avoided the addition of penalty points and the prospect of a race ban.

Haas driver Bearman was punished for his defence against Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli, gaining an advantage on lap 14 of a chaotic United States Sprint at the Circuit of the Americas, in which McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris both crashed out.

Bearman went off track in trying to keep Antonelli at bay and hold on to the final points-paying position of eighth.

The stewards quickly determined that Bearman should be handed a 10-second penalty, which dropped him to 15th and last after taking the chequered flag.

A stewards' verdict read: "Car 12 [Antonelli] was attempting an overtake on car 87 [Bearman] on the inside into Turn 12 and had its front axle ahead of the mirrors of Car 87 prior to and at the apex.

"Therefore, car 12 had the right to use the full width of the track. Car 87 left the track on the outside while defending and rejoined the track in front of car 12.

"The stewards determined that car 12 attempted a legitimate overtake, earned the right to the racing line, and according to the Driving Standard Guidelines, he did not deliberately force car 87 off the track, whereas car 87 gained a lasting advantage from leaving the track by maintaining its position."

Fortunately for Bearman, the Driving Standards Guidelines dictate that such a punishment does not warrant the addition of penalty points.

Bearman moved to within two points of an F1 race ban following a collision with Williams' Carlos Sainz in the Italian GP.

At the time, he earned a 10-second penalty for causing the incident, with two penalty points added post-race to take the tally on his superlicence to 10.

The first points are not removed until after next weekend's Mexico City GP on November 1.