The controversy over the accident at the Japanese Grand Prix between Franco Colapinto and Oliver Bearman is still open. In the preview of the Miami Grand Prix, the Argentinian referred to the episode and revealed that he tried to communicate with the Haas driver, but that he never received
a response.“I think the most important thing is that he's okay. I'm not going to comment too much on that. I'm just going to say that after the race I sent him a message right away. He never answered me, so he didn't talk to me. I did talk to him,” he said
.The episode occurred on lap 22, when Bearman, who was behind with a significant difference in speed, lost control after trying to avoid Colapinto's car and ended up hitting the barriers. Although the Haas pilot came out on his own, he must have received medical assistance, although he did not suffer serious injuries
.At the time, Bearman blamed the Argentinian and described the maneuver as “unacceptable”, while the sports commissioners and the Haas team itself ruled out Colapinto's fault. “Franco moved in front of me to defend his position. Last year would have been absolutely on the limit, but it would probably have been acceptable with a speed difference of only 5 or 10 km/h, but with 50 km/h it didn't leave me enough space and I had to basically avoid a much, much bigger accident,” said the British pilot
.Beyond the controversy, the Argentine pilot focused on safety: “What leaves me most at ease is that he's fine and that nothing serious happened. Of course, it's significant damage to your team, but it's part of racing. I think today we need to understand much better how we can make racing safer and not take these kinds of risks.”
