Oliver Bearman opens up on painful Japan crash recovery after 50G impact

Oliver Bearman has revealed “everything’s okay now” almost three weeks after his horror crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

However, his flight home from Suzuka was not a pleasant experience, as he was in pain after hitting the barrier with the impact recorded at 50G.

Oliver Bearman details Japan crash recovery

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for news you can trust

Bearman suffered a massive crash at the Japanese Grand Prix when he was caught unaware by his closing speed relative to Franco Colapinto.

Fighting Colapinto for position, Bearman came flying up behind the Alpine driver into Spoon Curve.

His closing speed was some 50kph faster than what Colapinto was travelling at.

PlanetF1.com data expert Uros Radovanovic clocked Bearman at 308 km/h, while Colapinto maintained a near-identical speed to that from the previous lap.

The difference was on Bearman’s part, with the Haas driver caught unaware by it and forced into evasive action.

As he dived to the left of the Alpine, he found himself on the grass, and lost control of his Haas VF-26 and went shooting across the track in front of Colapinto before slamming into the barrier sideways.

The impact was recorded at 50G.

Bearman limped away from his stricken car before two marshals came to assist him. He was taken to the track’s medical centre where X-rays revealed he had not broken a bone, he had just suffered a contusion to his right leg.

More on Haas from PlanetF1.com

Oliver Bearman crash proves F1 ‘cannot ignore’ 2026 risks, says Haas boss

Haas building on record start as Oliver Bearman leads early 2026 charge

After confirming that he’s now recovered from the terrifying smash, he admitted that wasn’t when he left Japan due to the effects of the furious impact on his body.

“It was a tough travel just because obviously after that, I wasn’t moving very much,” he told SportBible.

“I had a bit of swelling on the knee, but everything’s okay now, luckily, it was the right knee so I was okay.

“Actually, I was back driving on the simulator by Wednesday or Thursday, because my brother and I were practicing for an endurance race on the weekend,” he added.

“It could have been a lot worse. So very, very thankful and looking forward to getting back out in Miami.”

Bearman’s crashed sparked renewed discussion surrounding he F1 2026 regulations, with a series of meetings held through April ahead of the sport’s return in Miami poised to potential bring in a number of changes for the forthcoming event.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read next: Watch: GianPiero Lambiase leaves Red Bull: What next?