It was only a matter of time before the new Formula 1 regulations delivered a serious crash. It happened at the Japanese Grand Prix, with Oliver Bearman at the center of it. The Brit ended up slamming into the wall before Spoon while trying to dodge Franco Colapinto, and he climbed out of the car limping.
Initially, everyone attributed the crash to the FIA’s wild new regulations, and Bearman also pointed in that direction. But the Haas driver believes not all the blame lies with the FIA. Bearman thinks Colapinto also contributed to his Suzuka accident.
“Colapinto didn’t leave me any room”
The best news from the Japanese Grand Prix is that Oliver Bearman is alright. The British driver finished up crashing into the wall midway through the race, and left a worrying image as he got out of the car, limping. Bearman had to be taken to the medical center, but there the X-rays said there was nothing broken.
Once recovered, Bearman spoke to the press and launched an attack on the FIA. The Englishman believes that “this is what the new regulations trigger, I suppose we’ll have to get used to it.” And more gravely, Bearman revealed that before the Japanese Grand Prix they had already warned the FIA that this could happen.
“It’s something we discussed on Friday with the other drivers and the stewards: we need to be a bit more prepared because of these huge speed differentials. We warned the FIA about what could happen, and this has been the result of speed differentials that we had never seen before,” Bearman said.
And according to the telemetry, there was almost a 100 km/h speed difference at the moment of the incident. Bearman was traveling at roughly 262 km/h, while Colapinto was around 170 km/h. The FIA has already announced that it will use the April shutdown to study possible rule changes to minimize these problems.
But for Bearman, not everything is the fault of the regulations. He also believes Colapinto bears some responsibility for the crash, and he expressed as much. For Bearman, “I didn’t feel like he left me enough space.” And indeed there is a clear steering input from Colapinto toward the inside just before the crash.
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Nolan Kessler
I focus on performance-driven cars, emerging technologies, and the business forces shaping the automotive industry. My work aims to deliver clear, relevant insights without unnecessary noise, with a strong attention to detail and accuracy. I follow the evolution of mobility daily, with a particular interest in what defines the next generation of driving.
