{"id":5547,"date":"2026-04-22T09:20:55","date_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/news\/7622347\/repeat-of-bearmans-high-speed-crash-to-be-avoided-under-changes-to-f1-regulations-fia-says\/"},"modified":"2026-04-22T09:20:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-22T16:20:55","slug":"repeat-of-bearmans-high-speed-crash-to-be-avoided-under-changes-to-f1-regulations-fia-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/5547\/repeat-of-bearmans-high-speed-crash-to-be-avoided-under-changes-to-f1-regulations-fia-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Repeat of Bearman’s high-speed crash to be ‘avoided’ under changes to F1 regulations, FIA says"},"content":{"rendered":"

A repeat of the high-speed crash which left Oliver Bearman limping and alarmed the Formula 1<\/a> paddock \u201cshould basically be avoided\u201d with regulation changes<\/a> starting from next week’s race in Miami, F1’s governing body says.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>. <\/p>\n

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 \u201cboost\u201d mode for extra electrical power while Colapinto was low on electrical charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got sometimes cases when one car is deploying too little power because it\u2019s 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\u2019ve been discussing how to resolve it,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Restricting the impact of the boost mode and cutting the maximum allowed electrical power on \u201cspecific parts of the circuits maybe where we have corners or where they\u2019re a bit more twisty\u201d could prevent a repeat, Tombazis argued. Bearman had been using the boost on a curved section as he approached Colapinto.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, in that respect, it means that the sort of problem we saw with Ollie Bearman\u2019s crash in Suzuka should basically be avoided from the next race onwards.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bearman said on the \u201cUp To Speed\u201d podcast last week that the big difference in speed between him and Colapinto was an \u201cunfortunate result of these regulations\u201d, and that the Argentine driver should have left him more space because of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was lucky not to hit him. It would have been much, much worse if I did,\u201d said the British driver.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not now job done, we can all go on holiday,” Tombazis said. “We will keep monitoring. We\u2019ll keep reviewing and analyzing and so on. And, if there\u2019s any further interventions needed, of course we won\u2019t hesitate to take them.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP auto racing: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/auto-racing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A repeat of the high-speed crash which left Oliver Bearman limping and alarmed the Formula 1 paddock \u201cshould basically be avoided\u201d 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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":521,"featured_media":5548,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"guid":"d302e76c-2961-4a15-a4b0-475e14406ef5","source":"The Associated Press","byline":"James Ellingworth","published":"2026-04-22 09:20:55","updated":"2026-04-22 09:20:55","_infotelid":"","_prepressid":"","_multisite_post_sync":"","_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1436,1437,1297],"tags":[],"region":[],"class_list":["post-5547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fia","category-motorsports","category-sports"],"blocksy_meta":[],"parsely":{"version":"1.1.0","canonical_url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/5547\/repeat-of-bearmans-high-speed-crash-to-be-avoided-under-changes-to-f1-regulations-fia-says\/","smart_links":{"inbound":0,"outbound":0},"traffic_boost_suggestions_count":0,"meta":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","headline":"Repeat of Bearman’s high-speed crash to be ‘avoided’ under changes to F1 regulations, FIA says","url":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/5547\/repeat-of-bearmans-high-speed-crash-to-be-avoided-under-changes-to-f1-regulations-fia-says\/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/news\/5547\/repeat-of-bearmans-high-speed-crash-to-be-avoided-under-changes-to-f1-regulations-fia-says\/"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-097f359fe55388da73c6e21a56d013641092e61551bde0149a38243a2f0af33e.jpg?w=150&h=150&crop=1","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/infonews.ca\/inwheels\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/5\/inwheels-097f359fe55388da73c6e21a56d013641092e61551bde0149a38243a2f0af33e.jpg"},"articleSection":"FIA","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"The Associated Press"}],"creator":["The Associated Press"],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"iNwheels","logo":""},"keywords":[],"dateCreated":"2026-04-22T16:20:55Z","datePublished":"2026-04-22T16:20:55Z","dateModified":"2026-04-22T16:20:55Z"},"rendered":"