A repeat of the high-speed crash which left Oliver Bearman limping and alarmed the Formula 1 paddock “should basically be avoided” with regulation changes starting from next week’s race in Miami, F1’s governing body says.
Bearman was traveling at around 190 mph (306 kph) when he veered off track and slammed into the barrier while trying to avoid Franco Colapinto’s slower-moving car at last month’s Japanese Grand Prix.
The difference in speed between the two was around 30 mph (50 kph) because of key features of the 2026 cars. Bearman was using his “boost” mode for extra electrical power while Colapinto was low on electrical charge.
“We’ve got sometimes cases when one car is deploying too little power because it’s charging up its batteries and another one is trying to overtake and approaching at quite a fast speed. That has been obviously a safety topic and we’ve been discussing how to resolve it,” Nikolas Tombazis, who’s overseen the development and changes to the 2026 rules as single-seater director at the FIA, said in a video statement Wednesday.
Restricting the impact of the boost mode and cutting the maximum allowed electrical power on “specific parts of the circuits maybe where we have corners or where they’re a bit more twisty” could prevent a repeat, Tombazis argued. Bearman had been using the boost on a curved section as he approached Colapinto.
“So, in that respect, it means that the sort of problem we saw with Ollie Bearman’s crash in Suzuka should basically be avoided from the next race onwards.”
Bearman said on the “Up To Speed” podcast last week that the big difference in speed between him and Colapinto was an “unfortunate result of these regulations”, and that the Argentine driver should have left him more space because of that.
“I was lucky not to hit him. It would have been much, much worse if I did,” said the British driver.
Tombazis said the FIA would see how upcoming races go and push for more changes if needed. That usually needs the agreement of teams and engine manufacturers, but the FIA can intervene on its own on urgent safety grounds.
“It’s not now job done, we can all go on holiday,” Tombazis said. “We will keep monitoring. We’ll keep reviewing and analyzing and so on. And, if there’s any further interventions needed, of course we won’t hesitate to take them.”
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