– Oliver Bearman described Franco Colapinto’s driving during his crash at the Formula 1 race in Japan as “unacceptable” and expressed disappointment because this exact issue was the topic in the drivers’ briefing before Suzuka. And that is “what makes the matter even more frustrating,” said the Haas driver in the podcast Up to Speed.
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It was the big controversy at the recent Formula 1 race at the Suzuka International Course: Oliver Bearman experienced a high-speed crash there because he approached Franco Colapinto with a large speed surplus, whose car had switched to charging mode.
But because the Argentine did not stay right before the Spoon curve but moved late to the left, Bearman had to evade, lost control of his Haas, and crashed hard into the track barrier. Since then, there have been numerous discussions about safety and what can be done against the large speed differences.
“This is really the first time in history or at least in the time I can remember that two cars fighting for a position have such a massive speed delta. This is really a kind of unfortunate result of this regulation, but that was a 50 km/h difference,” Bearman said.
“Franco moved over in front of me to defend his position. Last year that would have been absolutely at the limit, but probably okay with a speed difference of only five or ten km/h. But with a 50 km/h difference, he didn’t leave me enough space, and I basically had to prevent a much, much bigger crash.”
Talked about the issue on Friday
Bearman shows no understanding for the Alpine driver’s swerve, whom he has not spoken to since. Because just the Friday before, this was exactly a topic in the drivers’ briefing.
“We said among all drivers: ‘Come on, we need to show each other a bit more respect,’ move to defend your position with a bit more anticipation, because the speed differences are much higher than we have ever had in our sport – and two days later exactly what was unacceptable to me happens,” he said.
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But is this demand realistic in Formula 1? After all, it almost sounds like you have to leave the door open for the car behind you – something no driver likes to do.
“Well, not leave the door open,” Bearman denies, “but he saw me coming and moved over. Last year that would have been okay, this year he sees me coming too late – I come with such a speed surplus that at that moment it is too late to move over. I saw him look in the mirror and move left, which is not good.”
Bearman demands respect among drivers
The Englishman demands: “We need to clear things up among the drivers and have more respect for each other, because I was really not happy with his action.”
“Last year we pushed it to the absolute limit and moved at the last second. Overtaking was so difficult and the regulations so mature that everyone knew exactly where the limits of these cars were. Now we are in a new era where we do not know the limits exactly.”
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Bearman knows he was very lucky not to hit the Alpine, because otherwise it would probably have been much worse – he got away with some bruises.
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Now it is important to find solutions to the problem. The issue of large speed differences is also high on the priority list of the currently ongoing meetings between FIA, Formula 1, and teams. “I think there are a few things we can optimize together with the FIA.”
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