Overview
- On lap one of the São Paulo sprint, Oliver Bearman moved left on the run to Turn 4 and forced Liam Lawson to put two wheels on wet grass, and the pair later made contact at the corner, spinning Bearman but allowing both to continue.
- FIA stewards deemed Bearman’s move “potentially dangerous” and issued a five‑second time penalty plus one superlicence point, while finding Lawson predominantly to blame for the Turn 4 collision and giving him the same sanction.
- Stewards reduced Lawson’s penalty from the standard 10 seconds due to mitigating factors, citing damp tyre conditions and inconclusive footage over whether he had sufficient overlap to be entitled to room.
- The penalties did not alter the sprint classification, with Bearman classified 12th and Lawson 13th.
- Licence totals now stand at nine points for Bearman and eight for Lawson, and Lawson later recovered to qualify seventh for the Grand Prix.