Anthony Davidson has raised concerns that Formula 1’s response to Oliver Bearman’s crash at the Japanese Grand Prix could have an impact on overtaking opportunities.
Bearman, driving for Haas, collided heavily with Alpine’s Franco Colapinto near Turn 13, after a significant difference in speed between their two cars.
The crash came as Bearman was using his boost button for extra power while Colapinto was recharging his battery.
Following the incident, the maximum boost allowed during a race has been reduced to +150kW. The change comes despite drivers still having access to a maximum of +350kW during qualifying and practice sessions.
Anthony Davidson questions whether boost reduction could limit overtaking
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 Show, ex-Minardi driver Davidson questioned whether the reduction in boost power would limit overtaking.
In addition, the 47-year-old stated that Colapinto was not necessarily to blame for the Bearman accident.
Davidson explained: “The boost, in the race situation, as we saw with Suzuka with the Bearman and Colapinto incident, going into the Spoon Curve.
“That wasn’t to do with necessarily the Colapinto Alpine slowing down unexpectedly; it was actually because Bearman pressed the Boost button in an area where, to be fair, you wouldn’t expect someone to be pressing the Boost button.
“When you are pressing the Boost button, during the first three races, they were getting full 350kW deployment. So around 470 horsepower if they had enough charge in their battery to deliver that.”
He continued: “So that was what caused this massive 50kph speed differential between two cars. You naturally assume that it was a car in front going too slow but it wasn’t it was a car behind over speeding.
“So they have capped it now to 150kW instead of a 350kW just to avoid that kind of quite ridiculous speed difference between two cars.
“Hopefully it will mitigate that. I just hope that it will still allow overtaking to happen. That for me is … jury’s out on that one but hopefully.
Oliver Bearman speaks out following Japanese Grand Prix crash
After being seen limping away from the crash, Bearman criticised Colapinto and argued that the Argentine driver didn’t leave enough space.
Bearman said on the Up to Speed podcast: “Franco moved across in front of me to defend his position. Last year would have been absolutely on the limit but probably OK with just a 5 or 10 kph speed delta. But with 50 kph, he did not leave me enough space and I had to avoid a much bigger crash.
“Basically, when he moved left, it was small, but at that speed difference, any move is huge. So I was lucky to not hit him. It would have been much, much worse if I did.”
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