Carlos Sainz blasts FIA for ignoring F1 drivers' warnings ahead of shocking crash

Carlos Sainz has blasted the FIA for ignoring critical F1 driver warnings over the safety of the new regulations following Oliver Bearman's huge Japan crash.

On Lap 21 at Suzuka, Bearman sustained a 50G impact after crashing at the entry to Spoon curve after being caught out by the closing speeds involved against Alpine's Franco Colapinto.

With the Alpine harvesting energy, Bearman was deploying his battery, with the closing speed around 29.7mph, forcing the Briton to jink left and slam through the brake marker boards before crashing broadside into the wall. 

He was seen limping from the car, with his right ankle and leg appearing to be injured, but after an X-ray at the medical centre, he was given a clean bill of health, although he did have bruising on his right knee.

Since the new energy-management dependent cars hit the track, some drivers have been critical, raising the possibility of such a crash occurring with high-closing speeds between two cars.

Speaking after a 15th-place finish, Sainz, who is also a GPDA director, blasted the FIA for ignoring the concerns of the drivers.

"I am hopeful that we will come up with something a bit better for Miami, given the fact that the accident that we saw today, we've been warning them about this kind of thing happening," Sainz told Sky Sports F1.

"With these kinds of closing speeds, and this kind of accident was always going to happen, and I'm not very happy with what we've had up until now. 

"Hopefully, we come up with a better solution that doesn't create these massive closing speeds and a safer way of going racing.

"I was so surprised when they said: 'No, we will sort qualifying answers, leave the racing alone because it is exciting', because as drivers, we've been extremely vocal that the problem is not only qualifying, it is also racing.

"We've been warning that this kind of accident was always going to happen, and we were lucky there was an escape road. Now, imagine going to Baku, or Singapore, or Vegas and having these kinds of closing speeds and crashes next to walls.

"As the GPDA, we've warned the FIA that these accidents are going to happen with these regulations, and we need to change something soon if we don't want them to happen.

"It was 50G, my accident in Russia 2015 was 46G, so just imagine what kind of crash you would have in Vegas or Baku. 

"I hope it serves as an example and they listen to the drivers and not so much the teams. Some people said that the racing was okay, because the racing is not okay."