In his first public comments since the heavy crash at last month's Japanese Grand Prix, Haas driver Oliver Bearman has blamed Franco Colapinto for not leaving enough space amid a 50km/h speed differential, calling the incident 'unacceptable' after drivers had discussed such risks in pre-race briefings.
Bearman addressed the lap 22 incident—detailed in prior coverage of the Suzuka crash that saw him suffer a 50G impact and knee contusion—at the Up to Speed podcast on Thursday. Starting a second behind Colapinto through sector two, Bearman closed rapidly as the Argentine harvested energy. When Colapinto moved late to defend, Bearman veered left onto the grass, lost control, and hit the Spoon barriers. 'Franco moved in front of me to defend his position,' Bearman said. 'With 50km/h, he didn’t leave me enough space and I basically had to avoid a much, much bigger crash.' He expressed frustration over the timing, noting drivers had agreed in Friday's briefing to defend earlier and show more respect given unprecedented speed deltas in 2026 regs. 'We said among all the drivers: we need to give each other a bit more respect... And then two days later that happens, which for me was unacceptable.' Bearman believes Colapinto saw him approaching and urged greater driver respect plus FIA adjustments to mitigate speed differences. This contrasts with Haas principal Ayao Komatsu's earlier view absolving Colapinto, as covered previously. Bearman was relieved to escape serious injury and eyes the Miami GP on May 1-3.
