The 2026 Formula 1 regulations have been subject to some scathing criticism from both fans and drivers throughout the season so far, but their dangerous nature was revealed in a nasty crash sustained by Oliver Bearman (Haas) during the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka Circuit this Sunday. Forced to take avoiding action to narrowly evade a crash with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto, he hit the barrier at a force of around 50Gs, subsequently suffering a right knee contusion.
In short, F1’s new regulations rely heavily on battery power, fluctuating between ‘boost’ and ‘harvest’ modes throughout the race. Drivers have to strategically deploy their batteries to overtake effectively, but this can go horribly wrong if used in such tight corners as Suzuka’s Spoon. Bearman was in boost mode just before the crash, while Colapinto was harvesting, resulting in a closing speed difference of 50kmph. Thankfully, Bearman has since made a statement that the crash was a ‘scary’ moment, but he’ll have plenty of time to recover before the Miami Grand Prix on May 3.
Grand Prix Drivers’ Association co-director and Williams driver Carlos Sainz went as far as to say that the incident could have been much worse without Bearman’s having access to an escape road. “Now imagine going to Baku or Singapore or Vegas and having this kind of closing speed and crashes next to the walls. We’ve warned the FIA [the governing body] these accidents are going to happen a lot with this set of regulations and we need to change something soon if we don’t want them to happen,” Sainz said in a post-race interview.
The FIA, in their statement released shortly after the Japanese Grand Prix, are adamant that they have been in dialogue with the teams, drivers, and sponsors throughout the development process, and that changes will be made following the crash. Why, then, have drivers been so vocal about their dissatisfaction during the season, if all this preparation had been made beforehand? McLaren’s defending champion Lando Norris spoke out as early as the championship’s first round in Australia about the dangers of the new regulations, with Team Principal Andrea Stella also warning that an incident such as Bearman’s was almost inevitable. And yet, nothing has been done until now.
The real question coming out of this incident is whether or not the FIA actually care about the safety of their drivers. While the Miami Grand Prix will not take place for five more weeks, there is no doubt that some real work needs to be done before the street circuit can be deemed truly safe for racing. It is only when such a heartstopping crash takes place that the FIA reluctantly springs into action — while they may claim that this is due to a lack of ‘real-world data’, the opposite should be the case in such a technologically advanced sport. Formula 1 is about innovation, yes, but not at a human cost — speed should never come at the price of driver safety.
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