Carlos Sainz has spoken out strongly after the Japanese Grand Prix, pointing the finger at the direction Formula 1 has taken with its current regulations. The Spanish driver, speaking after the heavy 50G crash involving Oliver Bearman, expressed serious concern about a situation that, according to him, had already been anticipated by the drivers for quite some time. The issue, in fact, is not limited to qualifying, but also—and above all—to how races unfold on Sundays, with sudden and excessive drops in speed that are considered potentially very dangerous.
The driver explained that he was surprised by the decision to intervene only on certain aspects of the regulations, while leaving race conditions unchanged: “I was very surprised when they [the FIA] said: no, we will fix qualifying and leave the races as they are because they are exciting. As drivers, we were extremely clear in saying that the problem is not only qualifying, but also the race, and we as the GPDA warned that this type of incident would happen sooner or later.”
Sainz: “We warned the FIA—imagine if it happened in Las Vegas”
These are very strong words, confirming the growing frustration within the drivers’ group. According to Carlos Sainz, what was seen in Japan is only a warning sign, because on other circuits the risk could increase significantly. The reference is especially to street tracks, where run-off areas are minimal and mistakes often end against the barriers.
Not surprisingly, the Spanish driver expanded the discussion to circuits such as Baku, Singapore, or Las Vegas: “Here we were lucky to have a run-off area. Now imagine going to Baku, or Singapore or Las Vegas, and having this type of speed difference and these kinds of incidents close to the barriers. I, or rather we as the GPDA, warned the FIA that these incidents would happen often with this set of regulations and that we need to change something as soon as possible if we don’t want them to keep happening. I heard it was a 50G impact: more than my crash in Russia in 2015, which was 46G. Just imagine what kind of accident you could have in Las Vegas, in Baku and so on.”
The Bearman crash in Japan: “80 km/h difference between me and him”
Making Carlos Sainz’s criticism even more significant was the crash involving Oliver Bearman, who went off track after encountering Franco Colapinto’s Alpine on the approach to the Spoon corner. Between the two cars, there was a massive speed difference, a direct consequence of the current dynamics imposed by the regulations. Bearman tried to move to the left, but ended up on the grass and lost control of his Haas. Fortunately, he suffered only a bruise, although the side impact was very heavy, and the British driver appeared to be in visible pain after climbing out of the cockpit.
Colapinto himself, speaking to Viaplay, described the situation from his perspective: “When I saw him, he was already on the grass. There was an 80 km/h difference between me and him. It was like he was on a push lap and I was on an out lap. It’s very difficult and dangerous to race like this, I’m glad he’s okay.”
The figure of 50G mentioned by Carlos Sainz clearly illustrates the scale of his concern. This is not just a criticism of the on-track spectacle, but a genuine safety warning. According to the Williams driver, the core issue is that current overtaking and defensive dynamics are creating excessive speed differentials, with consequences that can become extremely serious, especially on tighter and faster circuits.
Sainz calls for urgent action: “FIA and F1 must listen more to drivers”
Continuing his remarks, Carlos Sainz also expressed hope that what happened in Japan will finally push the FIA and Formula 1 to take action quickly: “I’m curious to see what FOM and FIA will come up with for the new regulations, and I hope they can find something better already for Miami, considering that the incident with Ollie that we saw today was exactly the type of situation we warned them about. This kind of closing speed and these types of accidents were always going to happen, and I’m not happy at all with what we’ve had so far. I hope we can reach a better solution, one that doesn’t create these huge closing speeds and allows us to race more safely.”
His final message sounds almost like a direct appeal to those who will be making decisions in the coming weeks. Carlos Sainz is asking for the drivers’ voices to carry more weight than those who have so far considered the racing acceptable: “I hope this serves as an example and that teams listen to the drivers, and not so much to the people who have said that the racing has been good, because the racing is not good.”
A firm and uncompromising stance that reignites the debate over regulations and places further pressure on the FIA and FOM. Because beyond the spectacle, the issue raised by Sainz is simple: continuing down this path without adjustments risks exposing drivers to increasingly severe accidents. And after Japan, ignoring the warning raised by the GPDA may become much more difficult.
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