Ayao Komatsu offers instant update on Oliver Bearman after ‘scary’ 50G Japanese Grand Prix crash

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Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu says Oliver Bearman headed to the FIA medical centre after his huge crash during the Japanese Grand Prix.

Bearman dived onto the grass after he was caught out by the Alpine of Franco Colapinto, losing control of his car. He slammed into the barriers backwards and brought out the safety car.

The British driver could be seen limping after he climbed out of the cockpit and he had to sit down behind the barrier before he was helped back to his feet by the marshals.

Ayao Komatsu says Oliver Bearman is heading to the medical centre

Speaking live on Sky Sports F1 shortly after the incident, Komatsu described the crash as ‘scary’. According to Bernie Collins, Bearman was 45 kph quicker than Colapinto, hence the ‘huge closing speed’.

“He had a huge closing speed against the car in front, so he had to take avoiding action, went on the grass and crashed,” Komatsu said. “Scary.”

The incident was noted by the stewards, but Komatsu didn’t put the blame on Colapinto.

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“It was just the closing speed, I think,” he said. “Huge.”

And when David Croft asked him if Bearman was visiting the medical centre, he replied: “I believe so, yes.”

Bearman’s crash is the largest of the season so far at 50G. Haas subsequently confirmed that he had not sustained any fractures, escaping with a right knee ‘contusion’.

The 20-year-old has just over a month to recover from the painful impact due to the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian GPs.

Carlos Sainz’s ‘very sketchy’ warning about the 2026 F1 cars proved right

Multiple drivers had predicted that this kind of accident would happen. GPDA director Carlos Sainz raised fears over closing speeds earlier this month.

The run to Spoon isn’t one of the designated ‘straight-line mode’ sections on the circuit, but differences in battery deployment have created striking speed differentials at times.

The Williams driver said, via RacingNews365: “In general, overtaking with ‘SM mode’ on the straight and the closing speeds of 40, 50, 60 kph. With no downforce in the car from the SM, it gets very sketchy. It gets very sketchy at the start, it gets very sketchy when you’re fighting another car.”

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Meanwhile, world champion Lando Norris warned that there would be ‘a big accident’. Fortunately, this wasn’t the kind of airplane crash he feared, but it might prompt a review from the FIA nonetheless.

He said, via ESPN: “It is chaos, and we are going to have a big accident, which is a shame because we are driving and the ones just waiting for something to happen and to go quite horribly wrong and that is not a nice position to be in.

“Depending on what drivers do, you can have closing speeds of 30, 40, 50kph, and when someone hits another driver at that speed, you are going to fly and go over the fence and do a lot of damage to yourself and maybe to others and that is a pretty horrible thing to think about.”