Major F1 2026 race ban update with Oliver Bearman back on the brink
The FIA is F1's governing body
Haas driver Oliver Bearman will start the F1 2026 season just two penalty points away from an automatic one-race ban.
It comes after the FIA handed the British driver one penalty point for defending too aggressively at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday.
Oliver Bearman at risk of F1 2026 race ban after latest FIA decision
After making his F1 debut in 2024, Bearman has enjoyed an impressive first full season with Haas this season, collecting a total of nine points finishes.
The 20-year-old’s best result came at October’s Mexican Grand Prix, where Bearman finished an accomplished fourth.
The rookie’s total of 41 points saw him outscore established teammate and one-time F1 race winner Esteban Ocon, who ended the season three points adrift of Bearman.
Despite his point-scoring exploits for Haas, Bearman has walked a disciplinary tightrope for most of the F1 2025 campaign.
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Under F1’s penalty points system, first introduced in 2014, drivers face an automatic one-race ban if they accumulate 12 penalty points within a 12-month period.
Kevin Magnussen, Bearman’s Haas predecessor, became the first driver to be banned under the system in 2024, resulting in the youngster making a premature Haas debut at that year’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku.
Bearman was handed a five-second penalty at last weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix for making more than one change of direction while defending from Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll on the approach to Turn 9.
The FIA has confirmed that Bearman has been handed one penalty point for the incident, putting him on 10 overall and just two away from a race ban.
It means Bearman will be on the brink of a ban for the first six rounds of the F1 2026 season, with his penalty points tally only reducing over the Canadian Grand Prix in May.
That weekend will see the two penalty points he received for overtaking Williams driver Carlos Sainz under red flag conditions at this year’s Monaco Grand Prix wiped from his record.
Bearman was handed four penalty points for crashing at the pit entry under red flags at the British Grand Prix in July, with the Haas driver given a further two points for causing a collision with Sainz in the Italian Grand Prix at Monza.
He was also given one point for driving in a manner deemed potentially dangerous at the Brazilian Grand Prix, where he appeared to edge Liam Lawson on to the grass on the approach to Turn 4 on the opening lap of the sprint race.
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Yuki Tsunoda, the Red Bull driver, ended the season second to Bearman in the F1 disciplinary chart with eight penalty points.
Like Bearman, Tsunoda was also found to have made more than one change of direction while defending from newly crowned world champion Lando Norris in Sunday’s race.
However, Red Bull announced ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that Tsunoda has been demoted to a test-and-reserve role for F1 2026 to make way for Isack Hadjar.
It means Tsunoda is highly unlikely to trigger a race ban unless the Japanese driver makes an unexpected return to a race seat during next season.
Lawson and Stroll sit joint third on the disciplinary chart with six penalty points apiece.
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