Formula 1 has returned to discussing safety after the heavy crash of Haas’s Oliver Bearman during the Japanese GP last weekend. McLaren boss Andrea Stella called for decisive action from the FIA following the accident in Suzuka.
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The accident happened when Bearman approached Alpine’s Franco Colapinto at the Spoon curve, but with very different speeds due to the charging issue of current batteries. The Haas driver’s impact with the wall was heavy, and the Briton needed help from marshals to leave the car, being seen limping after the crash, and a non-serious injury to his left leg was later confirmed.
After the race, Stella highlighted that the situation was not entirely unexpected. According to him, teams had already warned about potential risks during pre-season testing, especially related to the speed difference between cars in different energy usage situations.
“When it comes to the accident involving Oliver, I think this situation, when you know the speed difference can be so large, with one car slowing down or in ‘super clip’, while others are at full throttle with full battery, is not a surprise. We had already said this in testing,” Stella stated.
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The Italian executive also reinforced that the FIA needs to act preventively. For him, it is fundamental to analyze what happened and implement permanent solutions, instead of waiting for new accidents to take action: “This is on the FIA’s agenda in terms of the aspects of the 2026 regulations that must be improved. We don’t want to wait for things to happen before putting actions into practice,” the McLaren boss added.
Stella also highlighted that the result could have been worse, despite Bearman escaping without serious injuries: “Today (Sunday) something happened. Oliver, fortunately, seems to have come away with just a few bruises, nothing too serious. We have the responsibility to put into practice actions that, especially from a safety point of view, need to be implemented,” he completed.
The accident provoked several reactions among the drivers after the Japanese GP, and the FIA later released a statement about the episode, indicating that the case is already under analysis.
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