F1 ‘mushroom boost’ fears realised as Oliver Bearman suffers 50G Suzuka crash

Formula 1’s ‘Mario Kart’ era, as dubbed by Max Verstappen, delivered its first ‘Mushroom Boost’ incident in Japan – and it ended in a 50G crash for Oliver Bearman.

This season’s new power unit formula, with its 50/50 split between electrical and combustion power, has been further tweaked with drivers given extra power during Overtake mode and Boost mode.

Oliver Bearman crash highlights F1 mushroom boost danger

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Thrown in active aerodynamics where the wings can be used in Straight Mode sections and Corner mode, and it has created a massive speed delta between the forward car and the chasing car.

A delta that the drivers have dubbed ‘mushrooms’ given the speed boost Mario Kart allows a player when they hit a mushroom.

Haas driver Bearman had his first taste of the downside of the ‘mushroom’ effect as he closed in on Franco Colapinto at about 50 kph on the run into Spoon curve.

With Colapinto harvesting his battery into the legendary concerns, but doing so on the racing line, the speed difference between the two caught Bearman unaware and he had to dive to the left of the Alpine to avoid contact.

That him on the grass where Bearman lost control of his car and went shooting back across the track ahead of Bearman before ploughing sidewards into the barrier on the exit of the Spooen curve.

The impact was recorded at 50G.

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“Oh my god,” said race winner Kimi Antonelli as he watched the highlight reel in the cooldown room.

Oscar Piastri winced at the impact, before turning to Charles Leclerc and stating: “I finally see what you mean now about the mushroom.”

The ‘mushroom’ reference goes back to drivers comparing the new regulations to Mario Kart, given the sudden burst of extra energy and speed that is caused by activating the battery’s ‘overtake mode’.

The three drivers on the podium, Antonelli, Piastri and Leclerc, were asked for their thoughts on Bearman’s crash at Suzuka.

Antonelli first questioned if Colapinto played a role by moving aggressively, which Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu later confirmed he had not.

“I didn’t properly see what happened,” he said. “I don’t know also if the guy in front… Did he move quite aggressively as well?

“I mean, yeah, this is a big thing for sure, but the FIA is already looking into how to improve for Miami, both in qualifying and race. So, let’s see what’s going to happen. But yeah, it’s very tricky, to be fair.”

Leclerc rued that it was an issue with today’s cars as the drivers race differently, and perhaps need to move off the race line when they are harvesting or super clipping.

“I think that with these cars, surely we need to race differently and there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “And one of the points actually was moving or changing direction whenever you are super clipping, and that’s what creates some quite dangerous scenarios.

“Whether we need to change absolutely everything for the race, I don’t know.

“I don’t know if I’m the only one… I don’t think I’m the only one speaking with other drivers, but it might be half-half, but I actually enjoy these cars for the racing bit.

“I think for qualifying there are definitely tweaks that we need to make in order for us to push those cars to the limit and not having to think too much about the energy.

“For the race, I think it also comes from just adjustments on our side in racing, in defending, and taking into account that the speed differences can be more important, and on that, I mean, probably more the defending cars than the attacking car.

“I mean, on my side as well in Australia there were some pretty tricky moments with George. So yes, I think it will also get better with time, but surely it’s tricky.”

Piastri says a huge crash is something that has been spoken about extensively, and now a solution is needed.

I mean, we’ve spoken about that being a possibility since these cars were conceptualised. Yeah, it’s what we’re stuck with, with the power units. There’s no easy way of getting around it.

“From what I saw there was no flashing light from Colapinto, so I don’t even think he was super clipping either, which is obviously a bit of a concern.

“I had a pretty close call in free practice with Nico because he caught me about three times as quick as I expected on the straight, and we were both at full throttle. So, I think there’s clearly an element of learning for us as drivers, and where the accident happened it’s not a place where you expect someone to come from so far behind and have such a big speed difference.

“And whilst we’re learning that, unfortunately things like this are probably going to happen, which is a shame.

“But, you know, I think we understand as a sport there’s a lot of things we need to tweak, a lot of things we need to change, and especially on safety grounds, yes, there’s some things that need to be looked into pretty quickly.”

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