Racing
© Jonathan Borba
Oliver Bearman’s high-speed crash at Suzuka drew a firm defense from Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu, who said the rookie made a logical call under the new energy-deployment rules rather than an outright mistake. The impact, around 308 km/h, left Bearman with a sore right knee but he walked away. Komatsu urged the team to move on together and warned that Formula 1 must tackle the large closing-speed gaps created by the revised power deployment.
The incident came on lap 22 at Turn 13, known as Spoon. Bearman closed on Franco Colapinto, who was in battery-charging mode and losing power. Bearman activated his boost while the Williams ahead harvested energy. The speed gain took him onto the grass on corner entry. He then returned to the track and hit the barrier at very high speed. He climbed out limping, was diagnosed with a right-knee contusion, and apologized over the radio for the damage.
Komatsu said Bearman’s choice fit the data the drivers see under the current regulations. He called it a small misjudgement made at the limit, not a lapse of judgment. He also noted Bearman’s tendency to be hard on himself and told him not to dwell on it. The message to the garage was clear. Haas will win and lose together and keep focus on the next race.
The Haas boss set the crash in the context of the new energy recovery and deployment modes. He said the rules can produce large closing-speed gaps when one car is charging and another is deploying. Teams estimate a baseline speed advantage of about 20 km/h in these phases. With boost, that can rise to about 50 km/h on the straights. Different power units also behave differently, which widens the spread. That variance can compress reaction times for the car behind and complicate corner approaches when a pass looks on. Komatsu called this a learning point for the field and said it deserves discussion. He wants the rule makers to consider how to reduce scenarios that can turn dangerous when speeds diverge so quickly.
Komatsu also put the event against Bearman’s start to the season. The 18-year-old has scored many points across just two race weekends and has lifted Haas in the early going. Those results, Komatsu said, show why the team will protect the driver and not single him out. The aim is to help him adapt to the rules and keep building on the strong foundation he has already laid.
Haas has stressed that the regulations are still new for everyone. Suzuka was only the third race under the current energy deployment framework. Komatsu argued for measured evaluation rather than a quick reset. He wants teams and the FIA to study how the charging and boosting windows shape race traffic, and how closing speeds build in different parts of the lap. The goal, he said, is to guide drivers toward safe choices while keeping the racing intact.
Bearman’s crash will enter that wider review. The lap 22 moment at Spoon shows how fast the closing gap can grow when one car slows for energy harvest and the other opens deployment. The data from the cars will help quantify those gaps in real cases and not just in simulations. Komatsu said that learning will be shared across the paddock as part of routine post-race talks.
For Haas, the message after Suzuka was unity and perspective. Bearman made a call shaped by the tools the rules give drivers in 2026. It went wrong by a small margin at very high speed. He escaped with a bruise and said sorry to the crew. Komatsu backed him in public, pointed to the pace of this year’s car, and urged a calm reset. He also pressed F1 to keep working on the speed differentials that now define race craft as much as grip and tire life.