Bearman Walks Away Unhurt After Heavy Japanese GP Crash

Oliver Bearman escaped serious injury after a heavy accident during the Japanese Grand Prix, limping away from his damaged Haas on lap 21. The 20-year-old was fighting for 17th place with Alpine's Franco Colapinto when he lost control, ran onto the grass and slammed into the barrier at Spoon Curve at high speed.

Marshals helped Bearman from the car; he sat down briefly after exiting and was taken to the track medical centre for X-rays. Those checks showed no fractures and Haas confirmed he was cleared at the circuit. Bearman said he was fine and apologised to his team, noting the car had taken a lot of damage but that they had a month to regroup.

The crash was linked to a large speed differential between the two cars caused by different energy deployment states under the sport’s new regulations. Bearman estimated he was about 50 kph faster than he should have been relative to the other car and felt he hadn’t been afforded much space given the excess speed. The incident prompted the FIA to announce post-race meetings to review aspects of the 2026 regulations after drivers had warned of the risks from huge speed deltas.

The accident brought out the Safety Car, which shuffled the order and gave Kimi Antonelli the chance to move past Oscar Piastri and George Russell to take the lead and ultimately win.

F1 returns on May 1-3 for the Miami Grand Prix, the season’s second Sprint weekend, live on Sky Sports F1.