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Carlos Sainz has called on Formula 1’s governing body to start prioritising driver feedback over team reassurance after Ollie Bearman’s violent Japanese Grand Prix crash reignited fears over the racing produced by the 2026 regulations.
Bearman was fired into the barriers at high speed after being wrong-footed by a significant closing speed on the back of Franco Colapinto’s Alpine into Spoon. The impact registered 50G, leaving Bearman with bruising to his knee.
For Sainz, a director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), the incident was not an isolated shock — it was the scenario drivers had repeatedly warned about.
Speaking after the race, before reviewing full replays of the incident, Sainz was blunt in his assessment.
“That's the problem when you listen only to the teams, that they will think the racing is OK because maybe they're having fun watching it on the TV,” he said.
From inside the cockpit, he argued, the picture looks very different.
“But from a driver standpoint, when you are racing each other, and you realise that there can be 50km/h speed delta, that's actually not racing.”
Sainz stressed that such disparities in speed are virtually unheard of in other categories and carry obvious risk.
“There's no category in the world where you have this kind of closing speeds because that's when big accidents can happen because it catches you by surprise, you defend late, it catches you or the car [behind].”
He urged the FIA to respond decisively.
“I really hope they listen to us, and they focus on the feedback we've given them, rather than only listening to the teams. [I hope] they come up with a plan for Miami that improves the situation and a plan also for the medium term future of these regulations to keep improving it.”
Even if a complete solution cannot be delivered immediately, Sainz wants incremental progress.
“Even if you cannot improve everything for Miami, do another good step in Miami and then a big step for, I don't know if it's next year or later in the season.”
Sainz also questioned why Formula 1 appears more focused on fixing qualifying behaviour rather than the underlying racing concerns.
“That’s why I was so surprised when they said ‘no, we will sort out qualifying and leave the racing alone because it's exciting’,” he said.
“As drivers, we've been extremely vocal that the problem is not only qualifying, it's also racing.”
He warned that the Japanese Grand Prix could easily have looked very different at circuits bordered tightly by walls.
“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.”
Referencing his own 46G crash in Russia in 2015, Sainz underlined the severity of Bearman’s impact.
“It was 50G I heard, higher than my crash in Russia in 2015, I was 46G. Just in my mind what kind of crash would you have in Vegas, Baku, etc?”
His conclusion was unequivocal.
“I hope it serves as an example… to the teams and people that said the racing was OK, because the racing is not OK.”
Max Verstappen, informed of the incident after the race, pointed to the extreme performance differences created by energy deployment modes.
“That's what you get with these things, one guy is completely stuck with no power, basically, and then the other one uses the mushroom mode, and then it can be 50, 60km/h difference. It's really, really big.”
He warned that the combination of high speed and sudden deceleration can be misleading and hazardous.
“It can be very dangerous. It looks like moving under braking, moving in general, but it also happens when you have that quick deceleration. You can have a big crash.”
On the broader regulatory picture, Verstappen described the current situation as overly complex.
“In qualifying, to go faster, you need to basically go slower, like less throttle and everything. It's just not how it should be.”
He added: “It's so confusing, and that's not how it should be. It's all super sensitive.”
Reigning world champion Lando Norris acknowledged several close calls during the Japanese Grand Prix.
“I mean, there was a fair few, even with Lewis [Hamilton] at the end. But I've said everything and I don't need to say any more. Same as [the other] drivers. I don't need to keep going around about it.”
Concerns are not limited to drivers. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the issue had already been identified during testing.
“It's not a surprise. We said that already in testing. It is in the agenda of the FIA in terms of the aspects of this 2026 regulations that should be improved.”
He emphasised the responsibility to act proactively.
“We don't want to wait for things to happen to put actions in place so something happened.”
Fernando Alonso believes qualifying may pose an even greater danger than race conditions.
“For me, the most dangerous part is qualifying,” he said, pointing to the speed differentials between recharge laps and fast laps.
“Places like Baku, Singapore, Monaco, the street circuits, you have no avoiding action or run-off area, that will be tough.”
The FIA has confirmed that meetings are scheduled in April to assess how the new regulations are operating and to determine whether refinements are required.
For Sainz and the GPDA, however, the message is clear: the Japanese Grand Prix must serve as a warning. The closing speeds seen at Suzuka are not theoretical risks — they are already producing 50G impacts. The question now is how quickly Formula 1 responds.
He’s a software engineer with a deep passion for Formula 1 and motorsport. He co-founded Formula Live Pulse to make live telemetry and race insights accessible, visual, and easy to follow.