The FIA must address the dangers of Formula 1’s new rules before the next round of the world championship, says Carlos Sainz Jnr.
The Williams driver, who is a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, said Oliver Bearman’s crash in today’s race was an example of the risk of high closing speeds created by the current rules.
“I’m excited to see what FOM and FIA come up for the new regulations,” he told Sky, “I am hopeful they will come up 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 kind of [thing] happening, this kind of closing speeds and these kind of accidents were always going to happen.
“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.”
He said drivers had warned the FIA and F1 of the dangers the new rules posed but they had resisted making changes because they believe the new rules have made racing more entertaining.
“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.”
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Sainz pointed out similar crashes could easily happen at high-speed tracks where there is much less run-off space than Bearman had when he left the track at 308kph approaching Spoon curve.
“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 these kind of closing speeds and crashes next to the walls.
“We, as the GPDA, we’ve warned the FIA these actions 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, it’s higher than my crash in Russia in 2015, I was 46G. Just imagine what kind of crash you could have in a Vegas, Baku et cetera. I hope it serves as an example and the teams listen to the drivers and not so much to the teams and people that said the racing was okay, because the racing is not okay.”
The FIA said any changes to the rules will “require careful simulation and detailed analysis.” It issued a statement in response to the crash:
“Following the accident involving Oliver Bearman at the Japanese Grand Prix and the contribution of high closing speeds in the accident, the FIA would like to provide the following clarifications.
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“Since their introduction, the 2026 regulations have been the subject of ongoing discussions between the FIA, teams, power unit manufacturers, drivers and FOM. By design, these regulations include a number of adjustable parameters, particularly in relation to energy management, which allow for optimisation based on real-world data.
“It has been the consistent position of all stakeholders that a structured review would take place after the opening phase of the season, to allow for sufficient data to be gathered and analysed. A number of meetings are therefore scheduled in April to assess the operation of the new regulations and to determine whether any refinements are required.
“Any potential adjustments, particularly those related to energy management, require careful simulation and detailed analysis. The FIA will continue to work in close and constructive collaboration with all stakeholders to ensure the best possible outcome for the sport and safety will always remain a core element of the FIA’s mission. At this stage, any speculation regarding the nature of potential changes would be premature. Further updates will be communicated in due course.”
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2026 Japanese Grand Prix
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