Franco Colapinto has responded to Oliver Bearman’s criticism following their incident during the Japanese GP. The Brit barely avoided his Alpine rival while braking for the Spoon Curve, but went off track and crashed into the barrier with an impact of over 50G. Both drivers remained unharmed, although their relationship seems somewhat cooled. The FIA has since taken measures to prevent such accidents.
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The incident occurred because Franco Colapinto had used up his battery and was therefore about 45 km/h slower than Bearman. The Argentine chose a defensive line, but the speed difference was so great that the Haas driver had to move onto the grass. This resulted in a hard crash in which Bearman completely wrote off his car. The FIA stewards ruled afterwards that neither driver was at fault for the incident, so no penalty was given.
However, Bearman later expressed strong criticism – in a podcast he called Colapinto’s driving ‘unacceptable’. He explained: “Franco went past me to defend his position. Last year that would have been absolutely on the limit, but with a speed difference of only five to ten km/h it is acceptable. With the current differences, however, he didn’t leave me enough space and I basically had to avoid a much bigger collision. He moved slightly to the left, but with such a speed difference every maneuver is huge. I was lucky not to hit him.”
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‘Ignored my messages’
Colapinto himself remained relatively calm under the accusations and mainly emphasized being relieved about the outcome. “The most important thing is that he is okay,” he responded to the media in Miami. “I’m not going to say too much about it. After the race I immediately sent him a message, but he didn’t respond. We haven’t spoken. What I’m most happy about is that he is fine and that nothing serious happened. Of course, it’s a big setback for the team, but that’s just part of motorsport.”
According to Colapinto, the speed difference between cars, partly due to energy management, plays an increasingly important role in these kinds of incidents. “When something like this happens, the driver behind you knows exactly how fast he is going, how much turbo pressure he is using, and what he is trying. The driver in front is much more dependent on that,” Colapinto explained. “Nowadays, with the speed at which the cars approach each other, one moment you look in your mirror and the next moment someone is right on your tail. I think both drivers in such a case have to take responsibility. I would say that at no point did I drive too aggressively. Again, I’m glad he is okay,” he repeated emphatically. “Of course, I’m not happy with his comments, but hopefully we can put this behind us soon.”
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