F1 star Ollie Bearman makes rival driver plea after 'unacceptable' crash

Bearman, socials, Japanese GP, 2026 — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 star makes rival driver plea after 'unacceptable' crash

Oliver Bearman's crash has led to lots of discussion in F1

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Friday 17 April 2026 15:43

Haas F1 star Oliver Bearman has called for more respect between the drivers following his crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Bearman suffered a huge shunt at the Suzuka International Circuit, slamming into the barriers after attempting to move out of the way of Franco Colapinto's slow-moving Alpine.

But Colapinto's car didn't have a problem, it was just harvesting energy, and that has led some drivers - including GPDA director Carlos Sainz - to criticise the FIA and call for changes to the new regulations.

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Because of the harvesting being completed by Colapinto's Alpine at the time, Bearman has claimed that there was a 50kph difference in the speeds of the two cars as he tried to move out of the way of Colapinto.

Bearman appeared to be caught out by the closing speed of his Haas in relation to the Alpine, and reacted to avoid slamming into the back of his rival, but got onto the grass, sending him into a spin and off into the barriers.

It's believed that Bearman's crash was a 50G shunt, putting a lot of pressure on the modern safety features of the F1 cars.

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Bearman not happy with Colapinto after Japanese GP crash

Now, Bearman has said that the drivers talked among themselves about showing each other more respect due to the changes in the closing speeds in F1 2026 before the Japanese GP weekend, and that as a result, Colapinto's move under braking was 'unacceptable'.

"That's the first time in really the history or in the last however long I can remember that two cars fighting for position have such a massive speed delta," Bearman told the Up to Speed podcast.

"That's really a kind of unfortunate result of these regulations. But that was 50 kph difference. Franco [Colapinto] moved across in front of me to defend his position. Last year would have been absolutely on the limit but probably okay with just a five or 10 kph speed delta. But with 50 kph, he did not leave me enough space and I had to avoid a much, much bigger crash.

"When he moved left, it was small, but at that speed difference, any move is huge. So I was lucky to not hit him. It would have been much, much worse if I did.

"It was something we spoke about on Friday [before the race], which is even a bit more of a frustrating thing. We said between all the drivers, ‘come on, we need to give each other a bit more respect’. Move to defend your position with a bit more time 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.

"So, we need to figure things out between drivers, have a bit more respect between drivers because I was really not happy with the action that he did."

FIA 'tweaks' coming for Miami?

Sainz immediately called for changes to be made to the sporting regulations in the aftermath of Bearman's Japanese GP crash.

Since then, F1's governing body the FIA revealed in a statement that it was 'generally agreed' that 'tweaks' should be made to the new regulations, and they also revealed a deadline for when a decision will be made, April 20.

The FIA met earlier this month, and confirmed that this will be one of three meetings that take place ahead of the Miami Grand Prix in May.

They've suggested that the aim of the April 20 meeting will be to go through the proposed options for energy management rule tweaks, agreeing on a consensus for the way in which the season will proceed.

Bearman continued, praising the FIA for their willingness shown so far in making changed, saying: "I think there's a few things, tweaks that we can do with the FIA and we've been working very well together to try and avoid these big differences in speed anyway because like I said 50 kph normally that's like a car on a cool down lap versus a car pushing, you know, and then when they move to defend their position, it's dangerous."

Bearman then gave a health update, adding: "Glad that I'm okay and happy to be absolutely fine. Excited for Miami."

Asked by podcast co-presenter Jolie Sharpe if he had spoken to Colapinto after the incident, Bearman clarified: "I didn't speak to him."

The Haas star then gave further detail about the scary crash from his perspective, saying: "I knew it was going to hurt when I was out of control. That was for sure.

"Then of course I was just thinking to get out of the car as soon as possible. Luckily the car was not too damaged actually for the size of the crash. Power unit, chassis is okay which is also important and I was okay for the most part.

"I just wanted to get out quickly to show especially my family who are always watching that I was fine because although it was a big, big crash from the outside it was okay. I mean, the cars are incredibly safe, which is a testament to the hard work that the FIA has been doing."

Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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F1 Haas Japanese Grand Prix Ollie Bearman