Haas boss says drivers not to blame for 50G Bearman crash during Japanese GP

Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu refused to blame either Oliver Bearman or Franco Colapinto for the huge crash that took place during the Japanese Grand Prix.

Bearman suffered a 50G impact on the wall after he attempted to go round Colapinto but the differing levels of battery power has been identified as the main culprit for the crash.

Haas boss defends Colapinto and Bearman

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

Bearman looked to overtake the slower Colapinto but did so with a 50kph advantage, meaning he had a little time to react to the Alpine ahead of him.

In attempting to pass, Bearman touched the grass and at speeds of 190mph, he became a passenger as his car smashed into the barrier.

Remarkably Bearman escaped the heavy impact with only bruising but his crash looks to be a turning point for a serious discussion on the regulations, with a number of drivers having previously raised warning signs that something like this was a matter of when not if.

As for Haas, team principal Komatsu was keen to stress that neither driver was at fault.

“Leading up to that Turn 13, Colapinto, he was always doing something consistent. It’s not his fault at all,” he said. “But it’s just we are deploying more through there.

“So even with normal laps, we have 20kph advantage. That’s why he wanted to go for that.

More from PlanetF1.com

* Damon Hill issues ‘brake testing’ warning after terrifying Oliver Bearman Suzuka crash
* Japanese GP conclusions: Dodgeball on wheels, Verstappen’s rampage, Russell’s Norris test
* F1 data exposes why Max Verstappen’s Japanese GP charge stalled

“Now he used the boost button, but then that meant speed delta is 50kph.

“So I’m sure you guys saw on the onboard, closing speed was massive. He just misjudged it. It’s one of the things I think we talked about with this regulation, closing speed could become an issue.

“So unfortunately, that was one of those incidents. Of course, he’s kicking himself. He’s saying, like, ‘I should have done better, no excuse’.

“But you look at it, that 50kph difference in closing speed is massive. So it’s a lesson. So I’m sure we will talk about that in terms of our future, how we can improve. So it’s part of it. I’m just glad that he didn’t have a big injury.”

Komatsu was pressed on whether it was a “driver error” from the 20-year-old Briton but suggested that was a “strong word.”

“You could say small misjudgment, but just it’s scary though, that closing speed, when I look on the GPS before, it’s totally understandable and the correct decision to go for it there, but it’s just huge, you know.

“This is only the third race in this regulation, so that’s something he never experienced, so I wouldn’t even call it error, you know. So yeah, it’s just something I think we should be aware as a community and maybe see what we can improve to mitigate that, because it could have been not worse, right? So I’m really glad that he didn’t break anything.”

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: Laurent Mekies plays down Max Verstappen exit talk amid Red Bull struggles