Will Buxton claims Oliver Bearman’s Suzuka crash is a ‘warning shot’ for F1 over 2026 regulations

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Oliver Bearman’s horrifying crash during the Japanese Grand Prix should give Formula 1 officials pause over the new regulations.

Bearman’s 50G crash at Suzuka was a frightening moment in an otherwise entertaining Japanese Grand Prix this weekend.

F1 fans were furious over the crash, noting that it exposed the glaring safety issue that the new regulations pose for drivers.

Damon Hill called the 2026 F1 cars highly dangerous, as he joined in with many other drivers on the grid in criticising the new regulations.

While Oliver Bearman ultimately suffered no injuries due to the crash, Will Buxton believes the incident should serve as a warning to FIA officials.

READ MORE: Franco Colapinto reveals what he saw in the cockpit when Oliver Bearman crashed at Japanese GP

Will Buxton urges FIA officials to heed ‘warning shot’ of Oliver Bearman’s crash

Will Buxton spoke on Speed about Oliver Bearman’s crash at Suzuka, and the wider safety implications it will have for the new Formula 1 regulations.

Buxton revealed that the FIA will convene over this matter, but he urged them to consider the incident as a warning of what could happen if these regulations go unchecked.

“I think the argument for a lot of these guys was always going to be about safety. After Suzuka, it’s very, very real now. The FIA has actually gone on to state that the sport will use the data from the first three race weekends to determine what, if any, changes need to be made.

“Because with the races being cancelled, they’ve now got a month so they can sit down, look at it, and think, ‘Have we got it right? Or have we got it wrong?’

“A massive investment has been made in these engines… At the moment, they are deploying faster than they can harvest. That’s why they have this situation where they don’t have as much power as they need all the time…”

“You’ve already had a warning shot with Bearman. All you need is somebody to really start to decelerate on a straight, somebody gets caught unaware and goes over the back and flies…

“They’re stuck with these power units now. Can they limit the deployment, increase fuel flow rate, super clipping limit, something like that? But is it just going to be lipstick on a pig?…”

READ MORE: Haas engineers had to show Oliver Bearman his data to change his mind about 50G Japanese GP crash

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Will Buxton says drivers complaining about regulations unrelated to competitiveness

Buxton spoke further about the driver complaints regarding the new regulations. While he acknowledged there is a level of competitiveness about these complaints, more of them have to do with the safety concerns these regulations pose.

“This is the issue. This is the thing that the drivers have been talking about from day one. The drivers are calling for changes have been from the first race of the season.

“The issue is teams, engine manufacturers, they’ve all got vested interests… It goes a lot deeper than this because it’s not about competitiveness.

“The teams are going to be allowed, the engine manufacturers are going to be allowed to change the power unit under the regulations if they’re a certain percentage off the pace. But it’s not about competitiveness. It’s about safety.”

With a five-week hiatus in the season, officials must take this opportunity to address these safety concerns to ensure that incidents like the one Bearman experienced don’t occur again.

Crashes can never be ruled out in Formula 1, but the regulations must be adjusted to mitigate the risk of a crash as much as possible.