Drivers warned F1 and FIA about Bearman-style crash - Sainz

Carlos Sainz says the crash suffered by Ollie Bearman in the Japanese Grand Prix was predicted by the drivers since the start of the season and he wants to see action taken before the next race.

Bearman went off on the approach to the Spoon curves at 308kph (191mph) after trying to avoid Franco Colapinto after the Alpine started to slow due to super-clipping. The speed differential between the two cars was an estimated 45kph (28mph), and Bearman lost control on the grass and registered a 50G impact into the barrier, requiring X-rays in the medical center that came back clear.

Sainz says the drivers have previously warned of the consequences of such an incident on a street circuit, and that he has been frustrated that the main area of focus from Formula 1 and the FIA has been on qualifying performance so far this season.

“Being honest with you, I’m excited to see what FOM and the FIA come up with for the new regulations, that I am hopeful that we'll come up with something a bit better for Miami, given the fact that the accident with Ollie that we saw today, we've been warning them about this happening,” Sainz told Sky Sports.

“These kind of closing speeds and these kind of accidents were always going to happen, and I'm not very happy with what we've had up until now, and hopefully we come up with a better solution that doesn't create these massive closing speeds and a safer way of going racing.

“I was so surprised when they said, ‘No, we will sort out qualifying and leave the racing alone, because it's exciting.’ As drivers, we've been extremely vocal that the problem is not only qualifying, it's also racing, and we've been warning that this kind of accident was always going to happen.

“Here we were lucky there was an escape road. Now imagine going to Baku or going to Singapore or going to Vegas and having this kind of closing speeds and crashes next to the walls. We, as the GPDA [Grand Prix Drivers Association], we've warned the FIA these accidents are going to happen a lot with this set of regulations, and we need to change something soon if we don't want them to happen.

“It was 50G I heard, which is higher than my crash in Russia in 2015, I was 46G. Just imagine what kind of crash you could have in Vegas, Baku, etc. I hope it serves as an example and the [FIA and FOM] listen to the drivers and not so much to the teams and people that said the racing was OK, because the racing is not OK.”

A number of other drivers declined to comment on the specifics of Bearman’s crash having not seen the incident on replay, but echoed Sainz’s view that the closing speeds have been regularly highlighted as an area of concern. For Fernando Alonso, that is not only related to racing another car, but also when you have different run plans in qualifying.

“For me, the most dangerous part is qualifying,” Alonso said. “When someone is on the recharge lap and someone is on the fast lap, the difference in speed is crazy.

“Places like Baku or Singapore or Monaco, the street circuits that you have no avoiding action or run-off area, that will be tough – especially with 22 cars, thinking about Monaco and things. But yeah, let's see from now to then if there are some tweaks on the regs or whatever.”