During the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, the FIA was once again at the center of a highly controversial decision—so much so that it seems inexplicable.
FIA, why all this?
At the end of Free Practice 2, Oliver Bearman received a ten-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. The reason? He overtook under red flag conditions.
Apparently, the mere 17 meters of distance from the car ahead at the time of the interruption and a reaction time of just 1.6 seconds were not enough to spare the Haas driver from a devastating penalty.
Yes, because in Monte Carlo, scoring points from the back of the grid is practically impossible—unless one has a significantly superior car compared to the competition.
The already shameful decision by the stewards was worsened by the inconsistency of not penalizing Carlos Sainz and Franco Colapinto for doing the same thing. The penalty against Bearman was a true injustice, especially when compared to the one-place grid drop handed to Lance Stroll, who obstructed Charles Leclerc and caused a collision.
According to some reports, the FIA may have penalized Oliver Bearman for the unfavourable attitude he displayed when appearing before the stewards. After all, it was surely reasonable to expect full cooperation from him—even if what was happening was utterly absurd, right, dear stewards?
Fans, however, have the right to witness a sport whose governing body does not make decisions based on personal preferences. It seems there’s nothing to be done, that we are doomed to experience these scandalous episodes on a regular basis. And the question naturally arises: why?
