A week prior, Oliver Bearman had registered his best grand prix finish in his burgeoning Formula 1 career, when he raced from the pit lane to sixth place.
The timing of the safety car, at the Dutch Grand Prix, allowed the rookie to execute his favourable strategy, abundance of pace and well-executed race craft.
But following the Italian Grand Prix, at Monza, the 20-year-old is suddenly staring down a race ban.
Interestingly, just a year ago, Bearman was drafted in to replace Kevin Magnussen, who himself was banned from the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. On that occasion, he had hit the maximum 12 penalty points on his super licence, after he collided with Pierre Gasly.
But three incidents have suddenly thrown the current Haas driver on to the fringes of a weekend on the sidelines.
What has happened?
Battling Carlos Sainz’s Williams, for what was primed to be for the lower points finishing positions, Sainz edged ahead going into the dela Roggia chicane.
As the Spaniard turned in, he had yet to establish a full car’s length ahead of the Haas driver, who was refusing to concede the place; contact was then inevitable.
The two spun around but did continue and finish, albeit outside of the points.
However, the driving guidelines triggered the stewards to penalise Bearman for his part in the accident. With his front axle being behind that of Sainz’s, entering the apex, he was not deemed to be entitled to racing room.
They therefore slapped him with a 10-second time penalty and two penalty points.
This brings him to a total of 10, with only two more standing between the rookie and a race ban. And he will be on strict alert until the first of those points are withdrawn in November, as each penalty point expires after a year.
The first pair of points were given to Bearman when he caused a collision with Franco Colapinto, during the treacherous conditions of last year’s São Paulo Grand Prix.
He then earned another two after overtaking during a red flag, in practice, at Monaco. And then an extra four when he crashed into the pit lane, again under a red flag, at Silverstone.
Regardless of the psychological risk that a race ban will play on the Essex driver, he did still demonstrate good potential at a high-speed track that the American team were expected to struggle at.
But, penalties aside, Bearman will next head to a track that has been kind to him in recent years.
The Baku City Street Circuit saw him take pole, and two wins in Formula 2, in 2023. And it also saw him out-qualify his one-off teammate Nico Hulkenberg, en route to a points finish, last season.