McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also wants the FIA to implement regulatory changes after Oliver Bearman’s heavy crash at Suzuka. The Haas driver had to swerve for Franco Colapinto when he approached the Argentine with a higher closing speed. According to Stella, his McLaren team already sounded the alarm during the test days, precisely to prevent these kinds of incidents: ‘Must take measures now’.
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Already during the test days in Bahrain, McLaren team principal Andrea Stella warned about, among other things, the dangers of higher closing speeds under the new regulations. In Suzuka, the Italian team principal’s nightmare became reality when Oliver Bearman had to swerve for Franco Colapinto and subsequently ended up in the barriers with a 50G impact. The Argentine was charging his battery at that moment, and therefore had significantly less speed than the approaching Bearman.
‘We already warned during the test days’
According to Stella, the FIA has the ‘responsibility’ to prevent these kinds of incidents in the future. The team principal thus joins Carlos Sainz, among others, despite the driver’s fear that teams might think racing is currently fine. For Stella, Bearman’s heavy crash did not come as a complete surprise. “We already said during the test days that this (the difference in closing speed, ed.) should be on the FIA’s agenda when it comes to the aspects of the 2026 regulations that need to be improved,” the McLaren team principal told the media present in Japan.
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“We didn’t actually want to wait for something to happen to take measures, but something did happen during the Japanese GP,” Stella continued. “Fortunately, Oliver escaped with only some bruises, nothing serious.” Nevertheless, the McLaren team principal certainly does not want to wait until something serious does happen. “We have the responsibility to take the measures that are necessary and that must be implemented from a safety perspective.”
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