The Formula 1 race stewards have deemed no further action was required against Ferrari Reserve Driver Oliver Bearman or Williams’ Alex Albon after the pair came together in opening practice of the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Part way through FP1, Albon was caught unawares by Bearman, who was on a cool down lap.
Lifting at the exit of Turn 9, Albon caught a nasty bout of oversteer in his Williams FW46 machine, crashing into the side of Bearman’s Ferrari.
The incident saw both drivers end their sessions early with Albon hitting the barriers hard at Turn 10.
Both drivers were ok after the clash and the stewards, having heard from both drivers, reviewed telemetry, radio and onboard video footage have classified the clash as a racing incident.
“Both drivers agreed that Bearman’s positioning was not unreasonable, but was unfortunate as it was close to Albon’s line,” the stewards’ verdict read.
“Had Bearman been slightly further down the track it would not have resulted in an incident. All parties agreed that it was a racing incident.”
Bearman’s practice outing being curtailed cost him vital F1 running ahead of his full-season debut with Haas in 2025.
The British teenager has starred in one-off appearances this year, scoring points with Ferrari and Haas respectively in Jedddah and Baku.
Ferrari was able to repair the car in time for Charles Leclerc to contest FP2.
Robert Shwarztman handed obscure gird penalty
Sauber’s Robert Shwarztman was handed a five-place grid penalty for overtaking under yellow flags during opening practice at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
Shawrztman passed RB’s Yuki Tsunoda at speed during yellow flag conditions, following the crash between Albon and Bearman.
The stewards observed the incident, reporting “Shwartzman passed a single waved yellow, and a double yellow flag before overtaking Tsunoda in the yellow zone while travelling at speed.”
As a result, a five-place grid drop has been applied to Shwartzman and will only come into effect should he make his F1 race debut.
However, the Ferrari Academy Driver’s likelihood of competing in a Grand Prix rests solely on either Valtteri Bottas or Zhou Guanyu missing out through illness, injury or race ban between now and the rest of the 2024 season.
Moreover, Shwartzman has not been listed among the many candidates to line up alongside Nico Hulkenberg at Sauber in 2025.
Shwartzman currently plies his trade with the AF Corse Hypercar outfit in the FIA World Endurance Championship, taking one win in 2024 at the Lone Star Le Mans at the Circuit of the Americas.
His participation in FP1 at Mexico City came about as Sauber is required, like all teams, to run at least two practice sessions a year with a rookie driver.
Swhartzman previously contested FP1 during the Dutch GP at Zandvoort in August.
READ MORE – Why are F1 rookies Oliver Bearman and Franco Colapinto so prepared to step up?
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