Ollie Bearman, 18, suffers horror return to F2 as Ferrari reserve hit with two penalty points on F1 superlicence
OLLIE BEARMAN suffered a nightmare return to Formula 2 as he was slapped with a points penalty.
The Ferrari reserve driver was promoted to the F1 earlier in March to deputise for Carlos Sainz.
The 18-year-old Essex star performed superbly, crossing the line in seventh to secure six points on his debut.
However, he headed back to racing for Prema in F2 this weekend with Sainz recovered from appendicitis surgery.
Bearman put in an impressive drive in the Australian sprint race, rising from starting 16th to cross the line in eighth.
However, after the race, the teenager was docked with a brutal ten-second penalty.
That is because Bearman forced rival Joshua Durksen off the track at turn four, sending the Paraguayan-German driver into the gravel.
And that saw the Brit plummet down to 14th, wiping out Bearman’s first F2 point of the season as he remains on zero – alongside three other of the 22 drivers – as he eyes a seat in F1 for 2025.
He was also hit with two penalty points on his super licence.
Sprint race winner and Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar was also slapped with bad news after the chequered flag.
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Hadjar finished first but dropped to sixth after being judged to have caused a crash at the start.
There was more drama at Albert Park on Saturday as former Wimbledon semi-finalist Jelena Dokic needed medical treatment from a paramedic.
The ex-tennis star was watching the F1 Grand Prix qualifying when Fernando Alonso went into the gravel.
That sent debris flying into the crowd and catching Dokic in the eye in a freak injury.
Max Verstappen secured pole for Sunday’s race with Sainz joining him on the front row.
Lewis Hamilton struggled, though, and will begin from 11th on the grid.