Oliver Bearman has spoken for the first time about the accident he suffered at the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix – placing full responsibility on Franco Colapinto.
The incident occurred on lap 22 of the 53-lap race, where Bearman started around one second behind the Alpine through Suzuka’s sector two.
But he suddenly closed as Colapinto was harvesting energy and with a speed differential of nearly 50km/h, he was forced into avoidant action by moving to the left and onto the grass.
This caused him to lose control and subsequently hit the barriers with a 50G impact at Spoon, thankfully not suffering any injuries despite requiring assistance to exit his Haas car.
Bearman didn’t speak to the media that Sunday at Suzuka, but he has since addressed the incident on Thursday in an interview with the Up to Speed podcast.
“That’s the first time really in history, or at least in as long as I can remember, that two cars fighting for position have such a massive speed delta, and that’s really an unfortunate consequence of these regulations,” the Briton said.
The 20-year-old then blamed Colapinto, arguing that he suddenly moved to the left to defend P17, despite his team principal Ayao Komatsu absolving the Argentine of any responsibility.
“Franco moved in front of me to defend his position,” added Bearman. “Last year it would have been absolutely on the limit, but probably acceptable with just a five or 10km/h speed delta.
“But with 50km/h, he didn’t leave me enough space and I basically had to avoid a much, much bigger crash. When he moved left it was a small move, but with that speed difference any move is huge, so I was lucky not to hit him. It would have been much, much worse if I had.”
The Haas driver added that his frustration with Colapinto was heightened because such scenarios had been discussed in the drivers’ briefing ahead of the Japanese Grand Prix.
“It was something we spoke about on Friday, which makes it even more frustrating,” he claimed.
“We said among all the drivers: we need to give each other a bit more respect, move to defend your position a bit earlier, because the speed deltas are much higher than we’ve ever had in our sport. And then two days later that happens, which for me was unacceptable.”
Oliver Bearman, Haas F1 Team
Photo by: Simon Galloway / LAT Images via Getty Images
Bearman reiterated that he was very unhappy with Colapinto over the incident and called for greater respect between drivers, while also pointing to potential changes that could be made alongside the FIA.
“He saw me coming and moved,” Bearman said. “Last year it would have been fine; this year he sees me coming too late. I’m arriving with such a speed delta that at that point it’s too late to move. So I saw him look in his mirror and go left, which is not good.
“We need to sort these things out between drivers, have a bit more respect between us, because I was really not happy with what he did.
“But I also think there are a few tweaks we can make with the FIA, and we’ve been working very well together to try and avoid these big speed differences in any case. Because, as I said, 50km/h is normally like a car on a cool-down lap versus a car pushing – and when they then move to defend, it becomes dangerous.
“I’m glad I’m okay and happy to be completely fine, looking forward to Miami.”
Miami hosts the next round of the 2026 F1 campaign on 1-3 May.
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– The Autosport.com Team
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