Why Oliver Bearman was so much faster than Franco Colapinto when he crashed

Komatsu defends Colapinto after high-speed incident

Haas Formula 1 team principal Ayao Komatsu has firmly defended Franco Colapinto following Oliver Bearman’s heavy crash at the Japanese Grand Prix, insisting the Alpine driver was “not his fault at all.”

At the heart of the incident was a significant closing speed between the two cars — confirmed by the FIA at 45km/h — a figure Komatsu says was driven by differing energy management tactics.

Energy deployment and a 45km/h differential

“Leading up to that Turn 13, Colapinto, he was always doing something consistent, it's not his fault at all,” Komatsu explained. “The lap before, his speed was exactly the same, so we knew what we were dealing with.”

Haas, however, had been deploying more energy through that section of the track.

“It's just that we are deploying more through there, so even with normal laps, we had a 20km/h advantage. That's why he wanted to go for that. Then he used the boost button, but then that meant speed [difference] there is 50km/h,” Komatsu said, with the FIA confirming the precise differential at 45km/h.

The result was what Komatsu described as a “massive” closing speed — one that Bearman ultimately misjudged.

“I'm sure you guys saw on the onboard, the closing speed was massive, and he just misjudged it,” he added. “So it's one of the things I think we talked about, you know, with this regulation – closing speed could become an issue. So unfortunately, that was one of those incidents.”

Not an "error" — But a lesson

While Komatsu was unequivocal in absolving Colapinto, he also stopped short of placing blame on Bearman.

Asked whether the crash was a combination of driver error and Formula 1’s new rules, Komatsu rejected the terminology.

“‘Error’ is a big strong word, to be honest. You could say ‘small misjudgement’, but it's scary though, that closing speed.”

Reviewing the data from the previous lap, he suggested Bearman’s decision to attack was understandable.

“When I look on the GPS lap before, it's totally understandable and the correct decision to go for it there, but it's just huge.”

Komatsu pointed to the broader context of the current regulations, noting this was only the third race under them — and therefore an experience Bearman had not previously encountered.

“This is only the third race in this regulation, so that's something he's never experienced. So I don't even call it ‘error’, you know. It's just something I think we should be aware as an F1 community and maybe see what we can improve to mitigate that, because it could have been a lot worse, right?”

Relief after a heavy impact

Despite the severity of the crash, Komatsu expressed relief that the consequences were not more serious.

“Of course, he's kicking himself, he's saying like, ‘I should have done better, no excuse’. But, you know, you look at it, that 50km/h difference in closing speed is massive. So it's a lesson.”

Bearman escaped with a bruised right knee.

“I'm just glad that he didn't have a big injury. He hit his knee hard, but he's okay,” Komatsu said. “His knee has been thrown up, but it's nothing bad.”

For Haas, the incident stands as both a racing misjudgement and a broader warning about the impact of energy deployment strategies and closing speeds under the current rules — a factor Komatsu believes the wider Formula 1 community may need to examine closely.