Franco Colapinto voiced frustration with Oliver Bearman's criticism over their Japanese GP incident, calling himself a 'sitting duck' and revealing an unanswered post-race message, though Bearman later clarified in Miami he holds no grudges.
In the latest development in the Bearman-Colapinto clash at Suzuka—previously covered in this series including Bearman's heavy 50G crash, Haas boss Ayao Komatsu's defense of Colapinto, and expert analysis on 2026 closing speed risks—Alpine's Franco Colapinto expressed dissatisfaction ahead of the Miami Grand Prix. Bearman had blamed Colapinto for not leaving enough space amid a 45-50km/h differential, calling it 'unacceptable' in his first comments two weeks ago. The FIA cleared Colapinto of fault, aligning with Komatsu's view that Bearman's energy deployment contributed. Colapinto, running 17th, described himself as a 'little sitting duck' during the lap 22 incident at Spoon Curve and messaged Bearman post-race, receiving no reply initially. 'I'm not happy with his comments, but hopefully we can fix it soon,' Colapinto said, stressing shared responsibility in modern F1 dynamics with extreme speed deltas. Bearman responded in Miami: 'Honestly, I didn't see the text message... no grudges - I’m not that type of person.' The exchange underscores persistent safety debates as the season shifts to Miami after cancellations in Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
