Bearman Blames Colapinto for GP Japan Incident

Ollie Bearman has come out swinging against Franco Colapinto for the incident that occurred during the Grand Prix Japan.

The 20-year-old driver was involved in a massive crash after losing control of his car while trying to avoid Colapinto at Spoon Curve with a massive 50G force.

Bearman was forced off track and lost control of his car before spinning and hitting a barrier while trying to avoid Colapinto, who had moved to the left.

In an interview with Up To Speed, Bearman was critical of Colapinto's maneuver, stating that it was "unacceptable" due to the significant difference in speed between the two drivers.

Bearman said: "It's the difference of 50 km/hr... it's the impact of this rule, which is a shame."

He continued: "Colapinto moved forward of me to keep his position. Last year it might have been borderline, but it might have been accepted with a 5 or 10 km/hr difference in speed.

"But with a 50 km/hr difference, he gave me not enough room, and I had to take a much bigger avoidance action."

Bearman added that when Colapinto moved to the left, every movement counted due to the large speed difference.

"In the end, I was lucky not to hit him. It would have been much worse if I had hit him," Bearman said.

He also stated that the incident was something that the drivers had discussed on Friday, which made it even more frustrating.

"We said among all the drivers, come on, we need to respect each other," Bearman explained.

Colapinto, he said, had seen him coming but reacted too slowly.

"He saw me coming and moved, but it was too late. By the time he moved, it was too late for him to get out of the way," Bearman said.

Colapinto had moved because Bearman had overtaken him with a large speed difference, which made it impossible for him to move out of the way on time.

Moving forward by a little more time is what would be needed when you have a much bigger speed difference than what we've seen in the sport so far.

Bearman also talked about the incident that occurred and how he managed to get out of his car quickly to show his family that he was alright.

Bearman said: "I knew it was going to be painful when I lost control, it was definitely going to be, but the main thing was just to get out of the car as quickly as I could to show my family that I was okay."

Despite the massive crash, Bearman was only slightly shaken and left the car unscathed.