BEARMAN DISAGREES WITH PENALTY FOR GASLY COLLISION: ‘I DON’T REGRET GOING FOR IT’

Oliver Bearman caught a 10-second penalty for tagging Pierre Gasly while diving for tenth at COTA, and the Haas rookie isn't buying it. Bearman lunged up the inside at turn 13 after a strong VSC restart, made contact when Gasly didn't give him the room he expected, and promptly shredded his floor. The damage cost him a second per lap in downforce before Haas pulled the plug and retired the car.

The stewards ruled Bearman's front axle wasn't ahead of Gasly's mirror at the apex — no overlap, no entitlement to space, ten seconds, case closed. Bearman disagreed on the radio ("you're kidding me?") and afterward, calling it a racing incident. He stood by the move: Haas isn't quick enough to score on merit, so aggression is the only path to points. Gasly salvaged tenth. Bearman watched from the garage.

The penalty debate misses the larger point. Haas is desperate enough that its drivers have to send moves that may not stick. That's where the American team sits seven rounds from the end.