Experimental and numerical studies of hot tearing formation in steel are reported. On the one hand, an ingot punching test is presented. It consists in the application of a deformation at the surface of a solidifying 450 kg steel ingot. The experimental parameters are the displacement of the pressing tool, together with its velocity, leading to variations of a global strain rate. On the other hand, three-dimensional finite element thermomechanical modeling of the test is used. The time evolution of the strain tensor serves to compute an index to evaluate the susceptibility to create hot tears. It is based on the integration of a hot tearing criterion (HTC) that compares the local accumulation of strain with the expression of a critical value proposed in the literature. The main variable of the criterion is the brittleness temperature range (BTR) that refers to the solidification interval during which strain accumulates and creates hot cracks or tears. Detailed comparison of the simulation results with the measurements reveals the importance of the BTR for the prediction as well as excellent capabilities of the HTC to predict the formation of hot tears.