OLLIE BEARMAN and Liam Lawson were seen having an animated debate after the pair collided at the Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race.
Brit Bearman and Kiwi counterpart Lawson were involved in an opening lap incident when the Racing Bulls driver attempted to overtake the Haas driver at Turn 4 on the opening lap at the Interlagos circuit.
Lawson clipped the rear right of Bearman’s car to send him spinning and facing backwards, but both drivers blamed the other for causing the collision.
Bearman, 20, barked down the team radio: “That’s typical Lawson.”
Meanwhile, Lawson blasted: “He’s just so stupid. Oh my god. This guy. It’s always the same guy.”
Stewards fell in the middle of the debate, awarding both a five-second time penalty to be added to their sprint race classifications and a penalty point on their super licences.
The stewards report published by the FIA said: “After losing momentum at the exit of Turn 3, car 87 (Bearman) was approached by car 30 (Lawson), which had greater speed and was in the process of drawing alongside on the straight towards Turn 4.
“As car 30 attempted to move alongside, the driver of car 87 moved to the left, leaving insufficient room and forcing car 30 to place two wheels on the wet grass.
“Although car 30 managed to keep control and avoid contact, this manoeuvre occurred at high speed and created an unnecessary risk.
“The stewards consider that the move of car 87 constituted potentially dangerous driving, in breach of Appendix L, Chapter IV, Article 2 e) of the International Sporting Code.
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“As no contact occurred and car 30 was able to maintain control, and considering consistency with comparable previous cases, the stewards deem a 5-second time penalty and 1 penalty point to be appropriate and proportionate.”
A follow-up report considering video evidence and onboard footage also failed to establish clear blame for one driver or another.
Bearman eventually climbed up to 12th in the running, with Lawson finishing in 16th.
However, when the two drivers were parked up back in the pit lane, Bearman was seen going over to Lawson, with the exchange picked up by Yuki Tsunoda’s on-board camera.
The pair appeared to be having a very tense exchange.
Following his penalty point Bearman is just three away from a race ban and won’t see anymore points wiped from his licence until May 2026.
Both Lawson and Bearman enjoyed a productive qualifying session with Q3 appearances earning them P7 and P8 respectively for Sunday’s race.
Lando Norris took pole after winning the sprint – which saw Oscar Piastri crash out – while Max Verstappen was eliminated in Q1 for the first time since Russia 2021.
