Bearman Crash

[lkjohnson1950]

Ollie Bearman's crash measured 50G and was due to a 50KPH closing speed between Colapinto and Bearman. Bearman was using passing boost while Franco was at 0% battery.

[Dare]

Bearman was lucky. In the past he would have been a fatality

[Jericoke]

It feels like the drivers need more time to understand how to race these cars.  Maybe better status lights on the cars?  I know that there is a 'harvesting' indicator, but maybe there can be some other indicators?  There was really no way for Bearman to know that he didn't need to use the boost.

On the other hand, I do hope that the grid has learned from this. There are always dangerous situations that rise from drivers not respecting the cars.  Hamilton and Verstappen in 2021 could have killed each other without passing boost.

I am happy that the 2026 cars are safe, and the silver lining that Bearman's 50 g crash showed that.

[Andy B]

Are they safe?
They maybe structurally safe but the OB crash was caused by the design of car and read LN's comment that the car overtook LH even though he didn't want to.
So no the current cars are not safe if by design they are causing accidents.

[lkjohnson1950]

Further update based on data recorded in real time.

[Jericoke]

Are they safe?
They maybe structurally safe but the OB crash was caused by the design of car and read LN's comment that the car overtook LH even though he didn't want to.
So no the current cars are not safe if by design they are causing accidents.

I'm saying F1 cars have always crashed, you can say whatever reason, but Bearman's crash is hardly the 'worst' crash we've seen.  The car itself protected the driver, which is the safety I was referring to (much like Grosjean's crash where the car performed beautifully, if you look past the part where it crashed into a barrier at high speed). 

The crash was caused by Bearman not having enough respect for the car.  I'm not blaming Bearman, and we can agree that since these cars drive so much differently from any race car that these drivers have raced, maybe they need more than a few hours to acclimatize to how they work in racing conditions.

Was the change too radical to be safe?  Certainly people argue that.  I argue these are supposed to be the best drivers in the world, and they should be able to adjust.

[cosworth151]

For the reasons already stated, I'd describe the current cars with the word survivable rather than safe. This "harvesting" feature makes them way to unpredictable to be considered safe.

[lkjohnson1950]

Are they safe?
They maybe structurally safe but the OB crash was caused by the design of car and read LN's comment that the car overtook LH even though he didn't want to.
So no the current cars are not safe if by design they are causing accidents.

I'm saying F1 cars have always crashed, you can say whatever reason, but Bearman's crash is hardly the 'worst' crash we've seen.  The car itself protected the driver, which is the safety I was referring to (much like Grosjean's crash where the car performed beautifully, if you look past the part where it crashed into a barrier at high speed). 

The crash was caused by Bearman not having enough respect for the car.  I'm not blaming Bearman, and we can agree that since these cars drive so much differently from any race car that these drivers have raced, maybe they need more than a few hours to acclimatize to how they work in racing conditions.

Was the change too radical to be safe?  Certainly people argue that.  I argue these are supposed to be the best drivers in the world, and they should be able to adjust.

If a computer algorithm is deciding when to boost and when to harvest without input from the driver, then the car is dangerous. Did you get the part where Lando Norris said the car was forcing him to pass Hamilton when he didn't want to pass?

[Andy B]

Are they safe?
They maybe structurally safe but the OB crash was caused by the design of car and read LN's comment that the car overtook LH even though he didn't want to.
So no the current cars are not safe if by design they are causing accidents.

I'm saying F1 cars have always crashed, you can say whatever reason, but Bearman's crash is hardly the 'worst' crash we've seen.  The car itself protected the driver, which is the safety I was referring to (much like Grosjean's crash where the car performed beautifully, if you look past the part where it crashed into a barrier at high speed). 

The crash was caused by Bearman not having enough respect for the car.  I'm not blaming Bearman, and we can agree that since these cars drive so much differently from any race car that these drivers have raced, maybe they need more than a few hours to acclimatize to how they work in racing conditions.

Was the change too radical to be safe?  Certainly people argue that.  I argue these are supposed to be the best drivers in the world, and they should be able to adjust.

If a computer algorithm is deciding when to boost and when to harvest without input from the driver, then the car is dangerous. Did you get the part where Lando Norris said the car was forcing him to pass Hamilton when he didn't want to pass?

I quite agree Ik, Jeri said that "OB caused the crash for not having enough respect for the car"? Along with "I'm not blaming him" which she obviously is.
The LN quote is telling that the cars are doing things that the driver seems to have no control over so changes, big changes need to be made.
"

[Jericoke]

Are they safe?
They maybe structurally safe but the OB crash was caused by the design of car and read LN's comment that the car overtook LH even though he didn't want to.
So no the current cars are not safe if by design they are causing accidents.

I'm saying F1 cars have always crashed, you can say whatever reason, but Bearman's crash is hardly the 'worst' crash we've seen.  The car itself protected the driver, which is the safety I was referring to (much like Grosjean's crash where the car performed beautifully, if you look past the part where it crashed into a barrier at high speed). 

The crash was caused by Bearman not having enough respect for the car.  I'm not blaming Bearman, and we can agree that since these cars drive so much differently from any race car that these drivers have raced, maybe they need more than a few hours to acclimatize to how they work in racing conditions.

Was the change too radical to be safe?  Certainly people argue that.  I argue these are supposed to be the best drivers in the world, and they should be able to adjust.

If a computer algorithm is deciding when to boost and when to harvest without input from the driver, then the car is dangerous. Did you get the part where Lando Norris said the car was forcing him to pass Hamilton when he didn't want to pass?

I quite agree Ik, Jeri said that "OB caused the crash for not having enough respect for the car"? Along with "I'm not blaming him" which she obviously is.
The LN quote is telling that the cars are doing things that the driver seems to have no control over so changes, big changes need to be made.
"

Is that all that needs to be changed?  The boost/harvest are triggered manually and manually only?

[lkjohnson1950]

These are some of the proposals being made:

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/f1-plan-six-2026-rules-fixes-explained/