FIA issue defence over reaction to frightening Oliver Bearman crash

FIA single seater director Nikolas Tombazis has insisted the governing body must take time to implement measures following Oliver Bearman's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Bearman was caught out by the significant closing speed as he followed Franco Colapinto's Alpine.

After skating across the grass and hitting the wall at high speed, Bearman limped away from his car but was later cleared by the local medical centre.

The FIA is currently engaged in talks with teams over potential changes to the regulations after various concerns were raised, both surrounding safety and the driver's experience behind the wheel.

As it is yet to declare any measures taken in a direct response to Bearman's collision, Tombizis asserted it must ensure it doesn't rush into a wrong decision.

“Every accident at high speed is always a little bit of a shock,” Tombazis told The Guardian.

“To say it was expected would be wrong but the closing speeds had been identified as a risk.

“There have been talks about it but there was not easily the ability to act on it before we had a bit of time to analyse a few of the parameters.

“When we’ve introduced changes in a much more hurried way, the risk is that we make things worse or we cause all sorts of other issues, so that’s why we need to have a bit of time to analyse.

“Clearly safety is the number one priority.”

The FIA is due to meet with the teams again next week as it looks to reach common ground before the season resumes in Miami at the end of the month.