Martin Brundle tells Oliver Bearman why it ‘doesn’t matter’ his Monza penalty was ‘unfair’

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Haas driver Oliver Bearman is now two penalty points away from an automatic F1 race ban after being ruled responsible for a crash with Williams ace Carlos Sainz at Monza.

The 20-year-old Briton and the 31-year-old Spaniard tangled at the Roggia Chicane on Lap 41 of 53 in last Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix. Bearman briefly fended Sainz off into the Rettifilo Chicane, but the slipstream through Curva Grande gave the Williams pilot the run for Turn 4.

Sainz got the nose of his Williams FW47 in front of the front wing on Bearman’s Haas VF-25 before they braked for the Roggia Chicane. But the Madrid native was not far enough ahead to try to claim the apex at Turn 4, which meant he cut across the London-born rookie’s path.

Bearman’s refusal to simply yield the position to Sainz should have earned him more racing room on the inside at Turn 4. But the pair touched and spun out of P13 and P14, before they eventually rejoined the Italian GP once both were overtaken by Isack Hadjar of Racing Bulls.

Being right was not worth the risk in Oliver Bearman and Carlos Sainz’s Italian GP crash

Martin Brundle believes it was “unfair” that Bearman received a 10-second time penalty for causing the collision with Sainz at Monza, along with two penalty points on his superlicence after Sunday’s Italian GP. The Haas ace is now at risk of a race ban, with 12 the trigger point.

Bearman will not lose any of his 10 penalty points until November 2 after receiving two for a collision with Franco Colapinto in last season’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix. He will also continue to have at least eight penalty points until May 23, 2026, even if he avoids any further incidents.

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But while Brundle believes Bearman’s Italian GP penalty was “unfair”, he adds that the Haas rookie could have done more to avoid his crash with Sainz at Monza. While the Briton might have technically been in the right, the risk was not worth the impact of refusing to back out.

Brundle told Sky Sports: “I thought Monza was unfair on him. Sainz went down the outside into the second chicane [and he was] eventually clearly partly ahead. But Bearman couldn’t simply evaporate on the inside, and they collided as Sainz swept into the apex.

“I think his job was also to at least compromise Sainz’s progress through the chicane and try to overtake him on the exit.

“Sainz described it afterwards as a typical Monza racing incident, and I believe it was. But Bearman took a 10-second penalty and two penalty points on his licence…

“But there’s a much bigger picture here for some drivers to consider, because it actually doesn’t matter whose fault it is. Contact with other cars costs points and podiums, as likely happened in Monza for those two.”

Martin Brundle sees similarities in Carlos Sainz’s crashes with Liam Lawson at Zandvoort and Oliver Bearman at Monza

Brundle adds that Bearman and Sainz’s Italian GP crash at Monza on Sunday was also similar to the Williams racer’s incident with Racing Bulls rival Liam Lawson the previous Sunday. At Zandvoort, Sainz drew a 10s penalty for causing a crash in the Dutch Grand Prix on L27/72.

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“It was the same in Zandvoort when neither Sainz nor Liam Lawson would yield in Turn 1, and it cost them dearly. It’s like having a crash on the road which you could have avoided but didn’t because you were ‘in the right’, but also now in hospital with a written-off car.”

Sainz tagged Lawson in the Dutch GP as they fought over P7 and P8 when the Williams racer tried a move around the outside at Turn 1. The Spaniard never got his car fully ahead of the Kiwi’s VCARB 02, and he was shown the door on the exit as they both also suffered damage.

Lawson had a kick of oversteer on the exit of Tarzan in the wake of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari. Trying to control the snap ensured he squeezed Sainz, who suffered front wing damage that also punctured Lawson’s rear-left tyre. But Sainz drew the penalty after he did not back out.