The Haas driver slammed into the barriers at Suzuka after being caught out by a sudden closing speed behind Franco Colapinto’s Alpine approaching the Spoon corner.
Bearman swerved to avoid the car ahead at over 300km/h, lost control across the grass and hit the barrier in a 50G impact, escaping with bruising to his knee.
The incident reignited a debate drivers have been raising since the start of the 2026 season, centred on how varying energy deployment between cars can produce dramatic speed differences during wheel-to-wheel racing.
Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director Carlos Sainz said the crash highlighted concerns drivers have repeatedly communicated to the FIA and Formula 1.
“That’s the problem when you listen only to the teams, that they will think the racing is OK because maybe they’re having fun watching it on the TV,” Sainz said.
“But from a driver standpoint, when you are racing each other, and you realise that there can be 50km/h speed delta, that’s actually not racing.”
Sainz explained that the scale of the speed differential can catch drivers off guard when battling on track.
“There’s no category in the world where you have this kind of closing speeds because that’s when big accidents can happen because it catches you by surprise, you defend late, it catches you or the car [behind].”
The Spaniard said drivers had been pushing for changes and hoped the crash would prompt action from the governing body.
“Anyway, I really hope they listen to us, and they focus on the feedback we’ve given them, rather than only listening to the teams.”
According to Sainz, scenarios like the Bearman crash had been predicted long before the season began.
“We’ve been warning them [F1 and the FIA] about this happening,” he said.
“These kind of closing speeds and these kind of accidents were always going to happen, and I’m not very happy with what we’ve had up until now.
“Hopefully we come up with a better solution that doesn’t create these massive closing speeds and a safer way of going racing.”
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Other drivers expressed similar concerns after the race.
Max Verstappen pointed to the role played by different energy modes in creating huge speed gaps between cars.
“That’s what you get with these things, one guy is completely stuck with no power, basically, and then the other one uses the mushroom mode, and then it can be 50, 60km/h difference. It’s really, really big,” Verstappen said.
“It can be very dangerous. It looks like moving under braking, moving in general, but it also happens when you have that quick deceleration. You can have a big crash.”
Oscar Piastri said drivers had long been aware that the regulations could create situations with large speed differences.
“I mean, we’ve spoken about that being a possibility since these cars were conceptualised,” Piastri said.
He also revealed he had experienced a similar moment during practice in Japan.
“I had a pretty close call in free practice with Nico [Hulkenberg] because he caught me about three times as quick as I expected on the straight, and we were both at full throttle.
“But, you know, I think we understand as a sport there’s a lot of things we need to tweak, a lot of things we need to change, and especially on safety grounds, yes, there’s some things that need to be looked into pretty quickly.”
Charles Leclerc acknowledged that drivers may need to adapt their racing approach to the characteristics of the new cars.
Reigning world champion Lando Norris suggested drivers had already experienced several similar moments during the race.
“I mean, there was a fair few, even with Lewis [Hamilton] at the end,” Norris said.
“But I’ve said everything and I don’t need to say any more. Same as [the other] drivers. I don’t need to keep going around about it.”
Concerns about closing speeds had already been raised by teams during pre-season testing, including McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.
“It’s not a surprise,” Stella said.
“We said that already in testing. It is in the agenda of the FIA in terms of the aspects of this 2026 regulations that should be improved.
“We don’t want to wait for things to happen to put actions in place so something happened.”
The FIA acknowledged that the large speed differential between cars played a role in the accident, while stressing that discussions about potential adjustments to the rules are already underway.
“Following the accident involving Oliver Bearman at the Japanese Grand Prix and the contribution of high closing speeds in the accident, the FIA would like to provide the following clarifications,” the governing body said.
Officials confirmed that the 2026 rules were designed with several adjustable parameters, particularly within the energy management systems, which can be refined as more data from races becomes available.
“A number of meetings are therefore scheduled in April to assess the operation of the new regulations and to determine whether any refinements are required,” the FIA added.
“Any potential adjustments, particularly those related to energy management, require careful simulation and detailed analysis.”
The governing body explained that discussions between the FIA, Formula 1, teams, manufacturers and drivers will continue before any decisions are made.
“The FIA will continue to work in close and constructive collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure the best possible outcome for the sport and safety will always remain a core element of the FIA’s mission.
“At this stage, any speculation regarding the nature of potential changes would be premature.”
Formula 1 returns in May with the Miami Grand Prix.
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