The crash of the Haas driver at the Japanese Grand Prix, marked by a large difference in speed, sparked criticism and forced the entity to evaluate possible changes in current regulations
The Japanese Grand Prix left a strong impact on and off the track. The accident involving Oliver Bearman, a Haas driver, to try to overcome Franco Colapinto at the Suzuka circuit, set off alarms and reopened the debate on the current Formula 1 regulations
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The incident occurred at Turn 13, when the British driver arrived with a significant difference in speed, about 45 km/h faster, compared to the Argentinian, which was driving at a slower pace. In that context, Bearman lost control of his car and ended up against safety barriers, experiencing a 50G impact that left him with a contusion
The episode did not go unnoticed and generated a wave of criticism from pilots and engineers, who pointed out against current regulations, especially with regard to energy management, considering that they could lead to risky situations such as the one that occurred in Suzuka
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Faced with this scenario, the FIA reacted with an official statement in which it confirmed that it will take advantage of the April break, a month without competitions, to analyze possible adjustments.
“It has been the consistent position of all stakeholders that a structured review would take place after the initial phase of the season, to allow sufficient data to be collected and analyzed. Therefore, severalmeetings have been scheduled in Aprilto evaluate the functioning of the new regulations anddetermine if adjustments are required,” the text reads.
In addition, the FIA made it clear that any modification will require an exhaustive analysis and avoided giving any definitions: "The FIA will continue to work in close and constructive collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure the best possible result for the sport; safety will always remain acentral element of theFIA's mission. At this stage, any speculation about the nature of the possible changes would be premature. More updates will be announced in due course.”
What Colapinto said about the Bearman accident
In post-race statements, the Argentinian referred to the Haas pilot incident and defined it with a single word: “strange”. “I felt a little helpless. The difference in speed is enormous.It's almost like you're in a starting lap and another guy in a push lap. It's really strange.It's a curve that we're taking hard and it's more than 50 km/h faster than me,” he explained.
Colapinto considered the situation strange because of the difference in speeds
"I think things get very complicated when the lines aren't straight and there's a curve, because we're not in a straight line, but we're turning. And when I looked in the mirror, I was spinning around in the grass. But even turning, it overtook me, so I can't imagine the difference in speed
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“At some point it gets really dangerous. I'm glad you're okay. I think the difference in speed is due to many factors, but the main one is thatone car goes 50 km/h more or less than the other, and that's when it becomes dangerous,” he concluded.
