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FIA admits high-speed risks after Bearman’s 50G crash, but delays action, with promises of a review amid the extended break coming up.
Ollie Bearman’s Haas after the scary crash at Suzuka (Credit: Alamy)
The FIA has done it again: acknowledged a serious problem, then immediately hit pause on actually fixing it.
In the aftermath of Ollie Bearman’s frightening 50G crash at Suzuka during the Japanese Grand Prix, the governing body admitted that “high closing speeds” played a role, before insisting that any talk of changes would be “premature.”
Sure, so premature that drivers have been warning about this for weeks on end now.
Bearman’s crash wasn’t just a freak accident. It was the exact scenario the paddock has been warning the FIA about since the start of the 2026 season.
Bearman’s Scary Suzuka Crash
On Lap 21, Bearman found himself rapidly closing in on Franco Colapinto’s Alpine, a direct consequence of the new hybrid regulations and uneven energy deployment.
Left with no other option, the Haas driver jinked left, hit the grass, lost control, and slammed into the barriers at Spoon — bracing 50Gs worth of force upon impact.
Thankfully, the young Brit walked away with nothing but some bruising to his knee. But the incident itself was a glaring red flag.
Drivers Vent Their Frustrations
Williams’ Carlos Sainz didn’t mince words, reiterating that drivers had already warned about these exact scenarios.
“This kind of accident was always going to happen,” he said. “With these closing speeds, it was just a matter of time.”
And he wasn’t alone.
Oscar Piastri revealed he had a near-miss in practice under similar conditions. Franco Colapinto called himself a “sitting duck” in the incident. And Fernando Alonso had already summed it up bluntly before the race, stating, “Overtaking these days…is an evasive manoeuvre”.
FIA’s Response: Delay, Deflect, Repeat
Instead of urgency, the FIA offered the usual schtick: process. All wrapped in carefully worded statements about “structured reviews” and “adjustable parameters.”
They are slowly regulating F1 to death. The 2026 rules feel like a test phase, not the pinnacle of motorsport. Drivers saving energy instead of pushing, strategy over pure speed. If racing gets worse, we’ve solved the wrong problem. Are we still racing? #F1 #Formula1 pic.twitter.com/FNBC9ZYgRN— Tim Coronel (@TimCoronel) March 29, 2026
Despite admitting energy deployment differences are contributing to dangerous speed differentials, the FIA is sticking to its timeline — waiting for more data instead of acting on what’s already painfully obvious.
In short: Trust the process, says the ever-so-trustworthy FIA.
March 29, 2026, 6:59 PM IST
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